Today’s Reading: Jeremiah 4-9
“My people are foolish and do not know me,” says the Lord. “They are stupid children who have no understanding. They are clever enough at doing wrong, but they have no idea how to do right!” – Jeremiah 4:22
I hear a cry, like that of a woman in labor, the groans of a woman giving birth to her first child. It is beautiful Jerusalem gasping for breath and crying out, “Help! I’m being murdered!” – Jeremiah 4:31
Jeremiah spoke of a willful disobedience against God that was pervasive among His people. They were stubborn and rebellious, refusing to do what God told them to do. He would instruct them to do His will and they would say “No!” He would show them the path that would lead to the life He had prepared for them, but they would again say, “No!” They would stubbornly follow their own desires rather than the desires of God’s heart.
“I, the Lord, define the ocean’s sandy shoreline as an everlasting boundary that the waters cannot cross. The waves may toss and roar, but they can never pass the boundaries I set. But my people have stubborn and rebellious hearts. They have turned away and abandoned me. They do not say from the heart, ‘Let us live in awe of the Lord our God, for he gives us rain each spring and fall, assuring us of a harvest when the time is right.’” – Jer. 5:22b-24
I WILL SHOW YOU!
This is what the Lord says: “Stop at the crossroads and look around. Ask for the old, godly way, and walk in it. Travel its path, and you will find rest for your souls. But you reply, ‘No, that’s not the road we want!’ I posted watchmen over you who said, ‘Listen for the sound of the alarm.’ But you replied, ‘No! We won’t pay attention!’” – Jeremiah 6:16-17
“This is what I told them: ‘Obey me, and I will be your God, and you will be my people. Do everything as I say, and all will be well!’ But my people would not listen to me. They kept doing whatever they wanted, following the stubborn desires of their evil hearts. They went backward instead of forward.” – Jeremiah 7:23-24
“They have stubbornly followed their own desires.” – Jeremiah 9:14b
God wanted to live in a covenant relationship with His people. He did not create them in order to punish them; He wanted to pour out blessings on His children. God loves us and He finds creative ways to show us that love, and yet we often respond with a “No” to what He has planned for us.
I DELIGHT IN SHOWING YOU UNFAILING LOVE.
This is what the Lord says: “Don’t let the wise boast in their wisdom, or the powerful boast in their power, or the rich boast in their riches. But those who wish to boast should boast in this alone: that they truly know me and understand that I am the Lord who demonstrates unfailing love and who brings justice and righteousness to the earth, and that I delight in these things. I, the Lord, have spoken!” – Jeremiah 9:23-24
Lord, help us this morning to truly know you and understand the depth of your unfailing love demonstrated for us day after day. May we be eager to please you today, drinking only from your fountain of living water for sustenance instead of depending on our own cracked cisterns. Lord, do a work in our hearts today deepening our understanding.
Lord, we confess our pride and self-reliance and long to live in awe of you who brings rain into our lives so that you might reap a harvest of righteousness. We long for you to use us so that our lives can have an impact on the nation in which we live, just as you used Jeremiah. Father God, help us to hear only your voice as we stand at the next crossroads. Give us wisdom from you and place your words in our mouths. Amen.