Today’s Reading: Jeremiah 13

This is what the Lord said to me: “Go and buy a linen loincloth and put it on, but do not wash it.” So I bought the loincloth as the Lord directed me, and I put it on.

Then the Lord gave me another message: “Take the linen loincloth you are wearing, and go to the Euphrates River. Hide it there in a hole in the rocks.” So I went and hid it by the Euphrates as the Lord had instructed me.

A long time afterward the Lord said to me, “Go back to the Euphrates and get the loincloth I told you to hide there.” So I went to the Euphrates and dug it out of the hole where I had hidden it. But now it was rotting and falling apart. The loincloth was good for nothing. – Jeremiah 13:1-7

What God asked of Jeremiah was strange, wouldn’t you agree? Yet Jeremiah did what God told him to do. A long time passed between Jeremiah’s obedience and the Lord’s explanation, yet the student did not lose his focus on the teacher.

Then I received this message from the Lord: “This is what the Lord says: This shows how I will rot away the pride of Judah and Jerusalem. These wicked people refuse to listen to me. They stubbornly follow their own desires and worship other gods. Therefore, they will become like this loincloth—good for nothing! As a loincloth clings to a man’s waist, so I created Judah and Israel to cling to me, says the Lord. They were to be my people, my pride, my glory—an honor to my name. But they would not listen to me. – Jeremiah 13:8-11

PRIDE CAUSES US TO STOP LISTENING TO THE WORDS OF THE LORD.

When it comes down to it, all of the sins of Judah could be narrowed down to one root cause — pride. The created had lost their focus on the supremacy of God and made themselves higher than the Creator. They went from humble submission to arrogant disobedience. They did what they wanted to do with no regard to what God had commanded them to do.

We are created for a relationship with God. His desire was then and still is today for everyone to cling to Him. We are to be His pride and His glory, yet the sin nature within us causes us to seek our own glory for the sake of our own pride. What we learn in Jeremiah is that the sin of pride becomes the root of a lifetime of bad decisions and misdirected zeal, and this sin does not go unpunished.

“So tell them, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: May all your jars be filled with wine.’ And they will reply, ‘Of course! Jars are made to be filled with wine!’” – Jeremiah 13:12

PRIDE CAUSES US TO SEE BLESSINGS FROM GOD AS A PRIVILEGE WE DESERVE.

This expectation of privilege leads to us demanding that God make life easy and pleasurable. We lose track of our created purpose to bring glory to Him and begin expecting His blessings to bring glory to us. Instead of praying for God to use us in the lives of those around us, we start praying for the people around us to make our own life better.

“Then tell them, ‘No, this is what the Lord means: I will fill everyone in this land with drunkenness — from the king sitting on David’s throne to the priests and the prophets, right down to the common people of Jerusalem. I will smash them against each other, even parents against children, says the Lord. I will not let my pity or mercy or compassion keep me from destroying them.’” – Jeremiah 13:13-14

King Solomon knew a little about the consequences of pride, so he gave us this advice in Proverbs:
Swallow your pride. (6:3)
Pride leads to disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom. (11:2)
Pride leads to conflict; those who take advice are wise. (13:10)
Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall. (16:18)
Pride ends in humiliation, while humility brings honor. (29:23)

Lord, you have our attention. Please reveal in us all pride and arrogance. Help us to see our unhealthy need for importance or elevation. May we live to bring glory to you, may our prayers be for your ears only, and may we see your blessings as undeserved. May we not live in expectation of privilege but in gratitude for all you give us. Amen.

Listen and pay attention!
Do not be arrogant, for the Lord has spoken.
Give glory to the Lord your God
before it is too late.
Acknowledge him before he brings darkness upon you,
causing you to stumble and fall on the darkening mountains.
For then, when you look for light,
you will find only terrible darkness and gloom.
And if you still refuse to listen,
I will weep alone because of your pride.
My eyes will overflow with tears,
because the Lord’s flock will be led away into exile. – Jeremiah 13:15-17