God takes being ignored personally
Jeremiah 5: Why don’t you honor me?
God’s question to Judah resonates: “Why don’t you honor me?” He’s blessed them, forgiven them, and protected them yet they refuse to look his way. Jeremiah says that the Lord wonders why they don’t look at all of it and ask, “How can we honor our God with our lives?” However, that doesn’t happen. Instead, we see God-insulting sin and rebellion. It’s no wonder the Lord’s sick of them! After all he’s done for them they’ve turned their backs on him and walked away. God’s response is to do the same. He’ll be the one walking away and they’ll pay a terrible price for their insulting attitude toward him. Frankly, this passage troubles me. It would be easier to skip ahead to more sunshine and bypass this gloom and doom. That, though, is the problem. I’d better listen to Jeremiah. God takes being ignored personally. He blesses us in many wonderful ways but he expects us to respond to that blessing by honoring him in our lives. I may not be able to influence the larger culture but I’d better take this stuff to heart. Beyond that, I need to use what influence I do have to remind people that God expects us to respond to his blessings and never take him, or them, for granted.
Take Away: The Lord takes being ignored personally.
Author: GR 'Scott' Cundiff
Devotional on Jeremiah
Visiting ICU
Jeremiah 6: My people are broken — shattered! — and they put on band-aids!
To be apart from God is serious business. The solution isn’t to turn over a new leaf or to try to be a nicer person. Outside of God is death. A doctor doesn’t put a band-aid on a person who needs a heart transplant. The treatment is major surgery by a skilled surgeon. As a Christian I ought to understand this because I’ve been through the spiritual version of that process. However, I tend to forget it. Lost people aren’t simply making mistakes and facing a troublesome future. Spiritually speaking they’re in ICU with worse things yet to come. Jeremiah realizes that the sins of his nation have brought them to the brink of absolute catastrophe. I need to deal with those who are apart from God with the seriousness Jeremiah shows here.
Take Away: Lost people are really lost — condemned and without hope unless they allow the Lord to do a major, life changing work in their lives.
Devotional on Jeremiah
Our incense from Sheba
Jeremiah 6: Your religious rituals mean nothing to me.
They have church services and follow the time honored traditions handed down from generation to generation. It’s pretty impressive: robed priests, burning incense, sacrifices and prayers and songs. In fact, there’s nothing wrong with any of it. The problem isn’t in how they worship, it’s in how they live the rest of the time. God says they’ve just been “playing games” and “ignoring everything” he says. They respond by trying to jazz up their worship by bringing in some exotic incense from Sheba. Can’t you hear it: “the worship service seems a bit down lately, let’s get some of that really good incense from Sheba, that’ll give us just the spark we need.” However, it doesn’t work. God isn’t impressed and their worship services remain as empty as before. Listen, I’m all for fixing things up and I’m a firm believer in presenting a well ordered, prepared worship service. Adding our version of “incense from Sheba” isn’t necessarily a bad thing. However, that stuff only makes a difference if the worshipers are backing up their wonderfully choreographed and innovative church services with faithful day to day living. Otherwise, the new “incense” won’t please us or the God we worship.
Take Away: Being a worshipper of the Lord includes a lot more than just going to church.
Devotional on Jeremiah
Telling it the way it is
Jeremiah 7: Do what I command so that your lives will go well.
The original sin of the Garden of Eden is committed by human beings who decide that what God says isn’t right. Adam and Eve either doubt the wisdom or the honesty of God who commands them to avoid the fruit of a certain tree because to eat it, he says, will result in death. As I read from Jeremiah I hear the Lord insisting that his orders are for our own good. “If you do what I say your lives will go well” he says. If I’m not careful, I translate this to mean, “Do it the way I say and I’ll go easy on you, do it your own way and I’ll go hard on you.” However, that isn’t his message. The idea is that God not only has my best interests in mind, but he knows what will help me and what will harm me. If I say to my 5 year old, “honey, don’t play with electric outlets” I’m not just making a random rule. Rather, I’m speaking out of both good will and superior knowledge. The Lord tells me that if I obey him, he’ll be my God and I’ll be his son. He says that as I abide in that relationship I’ll have a better life than I would have otherwise. Really, this isn’t mystical or theoretical stuff; it’s just the way it is.
Take Away: The Lord’s way is the best way.
Devotional on Jeremiah
One more Bible study will do it
Jeremiah 8: They know everything but God’s Word.
My immediate reaction upon reading this line is that it’s a call to spend more time studying the Scriptures. After all, Bible study is a good thing; at least I hope so since I spend a lot of my time doing it. To be honest though, I don’t think that’s what Jeremiah is talking about. His listeners know what their Scriptures say and consider themselves to be “owners of God’s revelation.” In other words, they know the Scriptures and claim they’re written just for them. The problem isn’t that they don’t read God’s Word. Rather, it’s that they don’t listen to the word of the Lord! Through Jeremiah the Almighty is shouting out at them, trying to get their attention. They’re going in the wrong direction and need to turn around before it’s too late. While they’re faithfully going to Bible studies they’re ignoring what the Lord’s saying to them at that very moment! What an important reminder for us today. We have our KJV’s and our NIV’s and our NASB’s, and yes, our copies of The Message. We tune in to TBN or Sky Angel, listen to our Christian radio station, and then attend our Bible Studies. That’s just fine, in fact, that’s great. However, when the Lord bypasses all that stuff and speaks to our hearts what are we doing with it? Jeremiah says that even though they’re good at learning what the Scripture says they’re terrible at listening to the Lord when he speaks. Are we, and am I, doing the same?
Take Away: All the Bible study in the world won’t compensate for our ignoring what the Lord is saying to us this very moment.
Devotional on Jeremiah
Heading for the hills
Jeremiah 9: At times I wish I had a…backwoods cabin.
One thing that draws me to Jeremiah is his transparency. He tells us, not only what God’s saying, but also how Jeremiah feels about things. Those feelings range from compassion to anger and from hope to despair. At one point he says he’s “heartsick” over the sins of his people and wonders if there’s a “balm in Gilead” that can be used to heal their brokenness. He wishes he had the physical ability to weep the rivers of tears because of his sadness over their sin and the coming judgment. Then, he switches to anger. They’re worthless people, not worth his effort. He wishes he could just get away from them and let happen what’s going to happen. As I say, Jeremiah is a study in transparency and his feelings run the full range of human emotion. I’m not wired the same as Jeremiah. I don’t dip so low and I don’t soar as high. Still, I can identify with him to some extent. The truth is that, like Jeremiah, I can be filled with loving compassion for someone and be frustrated to death with them at the same time. His desire to step away from these people for a while and head for the hills isn’t off the mark at all. Even the best of people can only carry burdens for so long before a break is needed; a chance to reevaluate and get a fresh grip on things. That “backwoods cabin” experience might actually be the “balm in Gilead” that will not only help Jeremiah bring healing to these broken people, but will also bring healing to his spirit as well.
Take Away: We must guard against getting so people-focused that we fail to be God-focused.
Devotional on Jeremiah
Loving, doing, and fixing
Jeremiah 9: I’m God…these are my trademarks.
Jeremiah says that certain things define God. First, he says that God acts “in loyal love.” Centuries later John will declare that “God is love” but Jeremiah has already beaten John to the punch. God thinks of himself in terms of his faithful love for his Creation; for you and me. Second, I see that he does “what’s right” and sets “things right and fair.” The Lord fixes things. He doesn’t leave them as he finds them. Right now, God’s at work “fixing” this broken world and he won’t rest until he’s done it. Finally, God delights in “those who do the same things.” The Lord isn’t working solo in his “loving, doing, and fixing” efforts in this world. He’s very pleased when we join him in these things. Once I respond to his love and his “setting things right” in my life, he invites me to join him in what he’s doing in the world. When I do that, it’s a delight to him.
Take Away: The Lord isn’t working solo in his “loving, doing, and fixing” efforts in this world – rather, he invites us to join him in this great work.
Devotional on Jeremiah
Stick gods
Jeremiah 10: No matter how fancy the sticks, they’re still sticks.
Jeremiah’s comparing handmade idols with God Almighty. He says they’re like scarecrows in cabbage patches, homemade and lifeless. He says some craftsman might fancy up the wood; carving and sanding and painting. When he’s finished though, a stick is still a stick and a stick is no God. I’ve heard that household idols are making a comeback among some groups even my country. By and large though, such things are considered weird. Of course, that doesn’t let us off the hook here. In the broadest sense an idol is that which comes between me and the Lord, especially that which demands my time and money and loyalty. As I read this passage with that more general definition in mind lots of things begin to fit in. Relationships, possessions, pleasures, and position all can make “god-like” demands on me. The old time prophet reminds me today that those things are also stick gods and mustn’t be allowed to rise above their actual worth in life. If a modern day “Jeremiah” followed me around today, what parts of my life might he condemn as “stick gods?”
Take Away: “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”
Devotional on Jeremiah
Letting God be Lord
Jeremiah 10: Mere mortals can’t run their own lives.
Years ago there was a TV commercial in which a stressed homemaker rudely said to her well-meaning mother, “Mother please, I’d rather do it myself.” According to the ad, she needed to take a pill, and not just any pill: their pill. However, her desire to “do it herself” could never be fixed by her taking a pill. It’s a part of the human condition. Specifically, it’s what we say to our Creator. We’re made to live in fellowship with the Lord, to be partners with him in his purposes in our world. Instead, we turn our backs on God, insisting “I’d rather do it myself.” The result is, well, it’s what I see on the evening news every day. Pain and suffering, hating and killing: it’s all the result of our doing it ourselves. The fact is that as long as we make the most basic of mistakes: the exclusion of God from our lives, everything else is just putting band aids on life-threatening wounds. On the largest scale, the only hope of humanity is surrender to God. On the personal scale, it’s the same. Jeremiah says, “Men and women don’t have what it takes to take charge of life.” His solution is to do what God designed us to do in the first place: connect to God and let him be Lord of all that we are.
Take Away: We’re designed to live in fellowship with the Lord and nothing else will do.
Devotional on Jeremiah
Commanded by God not to pray
Jeremiah 11: I don’t want you praying for this people.
In Jeremiah 11 the literary style changes from mostly poetic to mostly prose. God has a talk with Jeremiah about his ministry. It’s here that Jeremiah is given a frightening command. God says, “Don’t pray for these people…I’m not going to listen.” I find that command as chilling as icy wind on a bleak winter day. Grace has been withdrawn and hope is dead. God says to them, “I have pronounced doom on you.” Once that bridge has been crossed it’s too late to pray. The Lord explains to Jeremiah that there are things happening beyond his view. Jeremiah says, “I had no idea what was going on” even concerning schemes against him, personally. In this case the withdrawal of grace is for a specific people and time. Later on Jesus makes it clear that God’s grace is available to “whoever believes.” On one hand, my realization of this brings me a sense of relief and I’m glad that I don’t live in a “don’t pray for these people” time in history. On the other hand, I’m reminded that there are clouds on the horizon. Personally, we each are promised a day when we’ll breathe our last and our future will be sealed. Beyond that, at a time “we do not know” the curtain of God’s grace is going to fall on history. What I do with the offer of grace now will make an eternal difference then.
Take Away: It’s foolish to treat our relationship with the Lord with anything short of a sense of urgency.
Devotional on Jeremiah
Don’t sweat the little stuff
Jeremiah 12: What’s going to happen when troubles break loose?
The whole question is: “If you can’t keep your wits during times of calm, what’s going to happen when troubles break loose like the Jordan in flood?” God’s question to Jeremiah is attention getting. My first response is that “calm” is a relative term. At almost any time I can find something unsettling to think about. Just watching the evening news provides me plenty of “troublesome” thought ammunition. Frankly, of course, I don’t have to reach that far. Like everyone else I always have something going on: family concerns, finances, and health spring to mind. Again, calm is a relative term because much of this is just part of living. No one has confused my neighborhood with the Garden of Eden and the same can be said of yours. So, I must learn to take life in stride. I’m not saying that life is always easy. For everyone there are times of “flooding Jordan” that knock the props out of everything in our lives. Even in that, though, the Lord isn’t giving me the permission to fall apart. Through Jeremiah he tells me to stop making big deals out of little deals in my life; to learn to trust him in those common problems and then, when the “biggie” comes, to apply what I’ve learned about trust even as the flood waters really are sweeping through my life. I know, I know, it’s easier said than done. Then again, that’s why I have to practice keeping my wits about me in the little stuff first.
Take Away: As we learn to trust the Lord with the little things of life we lay the foundation for trusting him with the big ones when they come.
Devotional on Jeremiah
We are sinners
Jeremiah 14: We know we’re guilty.
The prophet has no false illusions about his people. They’ve sinned against God and their sins have horrible consequences. I note that in this passage Jeremiah uses “we” language instead of “they” language. He identifies with his sinning countrymen. As I read this passage any picture I might have of a craggy old prophet shaking his finger at the “sinners” and telling them to shape up vanishes. Jeremiah cries out for God’s mercy using “first person” language: “we know we’re guilty,” “we’ve betrayed you.” Could it be that one reason the church fails to reach the lost is that we’ve adopted an “us and them” mentality? Don’t get me wrong, I know it’s important to pray for the lost while thanking the Lord that I’ve been found. Still, there’s a place for corporate confession. Our culture is rotten. Immorality is the norm. These are “our” sins. Lord, we know we’re guilty, we’re bad people. Please do something to help us, do it for your sake.”
Take Away: There’s something powerful and life changing in praying prayers of corporate confession.
Devotional on Jeremiah
The harsh reality
Jeremiah 14: Preachers and priest going about their business as if nothing’s happened!
Jeremiah is known as the “weeping prophet” because he speaks of his tears for his people so often. In this passage he says he cries “day and night” over their sin and the resulting destruction it will bring to them. He’s shocked and dismayed by all he sees: so much pain and suffering, so much sin and evil. Now, another thing shocks him. It’s the reaction of the church people to all this. He expects at least for them to share in his tears over it all. However, it isn’t that way. Church services go on as usual. “Wasn’t that an interesting illustration the pastor used in the sermon?” “Yes, but he preached a bit long for my taste, however, that special in song was lovely, wasn’t it?” Off we all go to our favorite restaurant for lunch, hopefully, we’ll get there before the Baptists. Oh, I’m not really against good church services or Christians enjoying fellowship after the service. However, Jeremiah’s heartbreak over lost people does speak to my heart today. We’ve got to stop doing business as usual and find ways to impact our society for Christ. Our church growth model is often more about getting people to switch to our church than it is about seeing people saved. We simply can’t think we’re doing what the Lord commanded us to do by just having good worship services while so many are headed out to eternity without Jesus.
Take Away: We’ve got to stop doing business as usual and find ways to impact our society for Christ.
Devotional on Jeremiah
Jeremiah 15: Let your words change them. Don’t change your words to suit them.
The Lord called Jeremiah to be his spokesman but Jeremiah’s words aren’t well received. In fact, they get him into a lot of trouble. As a Sunday sermon preacher I like it when people are energized by my words. It hurts when folks can hang out in the foyer chatting while I pour out my heart in a sermon. I have to admit though, that Jeremiah’s situation gives me a whole new perspective on things. Not only did his listeners reject his sermons, they actively tried to silence him. Having folks who are angry with me and out to get me over a sermon would be much worse than their simply wanting to chat about other things while I preach on Sunday! Facing such opposition, Jeremiah’s tempted to adjust his preaching a bit, to downplay the “gloom and doom” and focus on things like God’s love instead. The Lord, though, is having none of that. He looks Jeremiah square in the face and tells him to stand up and take it like a man. If he has to decide between his congregation not liking his sermons or the Lord not liking them, he’d better land on the side of the Lord. The Almighty says to Jeremiah, “Don’t let the congregation craft your sermon. Be faithful to my directions and your words will change lives.” We preachers need passages like this to remind us of the spiritual facts of life. We aren’t preaching to please people. Instead, we’re preaching to change their lives. It isn’t so much what they want as it is what they need. There’s only one in the audience who must be pleased no matter what. I need to spend time with him as I prepare a sermon, lean on him as I deliver it, and then leave the results of it all in his hands.
Take Away: It’s a good thing when the congregation is pleased with the sermon. It’s even better when the Lord is.
Devotional on Jeremiah
Facing an uncomfortable truth
Jeremiah 16: I’m getting rid of you.
Any time I hear an argument that casts doubt on the existence of a literal hell I’m drawn to it. When I encounter a thoughtful point against the doctrine, well, I can’t help but listen. It isn’t that I’m afraid of going there. After all, my faith is firmly placed on Jesus, my Lord and Savior. It’s just that I instinctively shy away from the idea of people suffering forever. As soothing as it might be for me to land on the “no hell” side of the debate, passages like this block my way. Here, Jeremiah describes the wrath of God in clear and frightening terms. Jeremiah is to reflect God’s attitude in his actions: when destruction comes he isn’t to attend funerals or offer words of comfort. In fact, the Lord says that the destruction will be so complete that there’ll be no one left to mourn over the dead. This passage isn’t intended to teach me about hell, and it’s likely that common beliefs about it are more folk theology than biblical. However this passage does teach me something about the Almighty. God has the authority and the power to judge as he sees fit. I’ve concluded that, when it comes to God’s love, I can never comprehend the greatness of it. Today, Jeremiah reminds me that the same can be said when it comes to my comprehension of God’s hatred of sin.
Take Away: The Lord has the authority and the power to judge as he sees fit.
Devotional on Jeremiah
Navigating through a maze at night
Jeremiah 17: The heart is hopelessly dark and deceitful.
I think it’s in order to quote more from this passage: “The heart is hopelessly dark and deceitful, a puzzle that no one can figure out. But I, God, search the heart and examine the mind. I get to the heart of the human. I get to the root of things. I treat them as they really are, not as they pretend to be.” There’s much of our humanity that we humans can’t figure out. I may do something and then wonder why I did it or I may state a position and then realize that my reasons are not as clear as I thought they were. Jeremiah tells me that the heart of my life is a dark place. If you look at the passage again, you’ll see that he isn’t talking so much about darkness as “wickedness” (although I do think we’re sinners by nature and need to let the Lord deal with that aspect of our lives) as he is talking about “mysterious.” In other words, Jeremiah points out that our lives are a tangled web of desires, hopes, hurts, and misconceptions. Finding one’s way through all that is like navigating a maze at night. In a word: impossible. However, the Lord can find his way to the core of issues within me. He searches my innermost being, getting to the root of why I am the person I am. So what do I take away from this concept? For one thing, I see that I’m not qualified to judge others. I can’t untangle their lives so I had better leave the judging up to the One who can. Also, I come away from this passage reminded of how important it is that I rely on, and listen to, the Lord. He unravels the mystery of my life. Sometimes, he sees my failure and, looking through all the darkness, says, “That’s okay. You did your best, I judge you ‘not guilty.'” It may be though, that he’ll say, “what you did was plain sin. You rebelled against me and even though you can make surface excuses, I know better. Repent and make it right.” He knows me better than I know myself as he navigates to the very core of my being.
Take Away: The Lord knows me better than I know myself.
Devotional on Jeremiah
In the hands of the Master Workman
Jeremiah 18: In the same way that this potter works his clay, I work on you.
People who have no idea that this illustration of how God works in lives comes from the book of Jeremiah are well aware of this parable. The picture of the potter sculpting the clay and then remaking it is as clear a parable as we’ll ever see. It’s not that the potter doesn’t know what he’s doing or that he becomes distracted and messes up. The problem is that something in the clay resists and the result isn’t satisfactory to the craftsman. However, as long as the clay is pliable in the master’s hands it can be remade into something just as beautiful and usable as the first version would have been. It’s somewhat sobering to read on. The point Jeremiah’s making is that, while the Potter is capable of salvaging the situation, the clay continues to resist. The prophet says his people say, “What’s the point? We’ll live just the way we’ve always lived.” God can handle their failure and rebellion. He can remake them, bringing something good out of even this hopeless situation. Sadly though, they won’t let him. Today, I don’t have to be a perfect person to be sculpted by the Master’s hand. However, I do have to be willing for that to happen. I don’t come to God and say, “I’ve done a pretty good job on my life so far, how about you doing the finishing touches?” Instead, I say, “Here’s my life, the good and bad of it. I place myself in your hands knowing you can remake me in a way that will be good.” God save us from thinking our lives can’t be made new by his hand.
Take Away: God is the God of Second Chances.
Devotional on Jeremiah
Poorly received sermons
Jeremiah 20: The words are a fire in my belly, a burning in my bones.
From the beginning the Lord tells Jeremiah that his ministry won’t be well received. The Lord also tells Jeremiah that he’ll make him like a rock, hard and unyielding in proclaiming his unwelcome message. The prophet reports that following one of his gloom and doom sermons in which he tells it like it is concerning the religious leaders of his nation that things get rather personal. One of the men he preaches about is the senior priest at the Temple. Pashur isn’t happy with Jeremiah’s sermon so he has him arrested and put in stocks, made subject to public humiliation. The next day when Pashur comes to have him released, Jeremiah looks him in the eye and declares God’s displeasure with him and promises that God’s going to pass judgment on him. That, though, doesn’t mean that Jeremiah’s untouched by all the opposition. He reports that he actually tries to stop proclaiming God’s message. Apparently, the strain is so great and the level of success is so small that he wants to give it all up. It doesn’t work. He says that God keeps pouring his words into his heart and that they have to be said or they feel like a fire burning inside him. Whether or not anyone listens Jeremiah’s compelled to keep saying those powerful messages. Beyond the burning words, Jeremiah finds that the Lord’s his constant source of strength. The Lord, he reports, is like a warrior standing by his side. Meanwhile, his opposition is so confused by it all that he reports that they’re only good for comic relief. Jeremiah keeps preaching those unwelcome messages because God keeps pouring them into him. Abandoning his task isn’t an option.
Take Away: If the Lord calls us to it he will bring us through it.
Devotional on Jeremiah
A heaping helping of humble pie
Jeremiah 21: I’ve giving you a choice: life or death.
It’s doubly hard for the priest, Pashur, to come to Jeremiah with the request. He’s Jeremiah’s sworn enemy. Just recently he put the prophet in stocks for the night to teach him to mind his tongue. Still, things aren’t going well for the nation. They’re at war with the juggernaut Babylon and barring a miracle they face certain defeat. Even that, though, isn’t why Pashur finds himself in this humiliating conversation with Jeremiah. He’s here because King Zedekiah ordered him to go to Jeremiah and ask this troublesome man to pray for God’s intervention. Pashur protested, sputtering out that Jeremiah has already stated God’s judgment on him and his household. Maybe the king should send someone else. Zedekiah, though, ordered and didn’t ask, so the priest finds himself, hat in hand, asking Jeremiah to pray to God for the deliverance of the country from their powerful enemy. Jeremiah’s response is exactly what Pashur expects: more gloom and doom, more defeatist talk. The prophet says he won’t pray for them, in fact, he’s throwing his support to Nebuchadnezzar and his army. The stubborn prophet declares that not only does God refuse to help them but that he’s actively working against them. God’s offer of mercy is not that he’ll deliver them in battle, but that, if they surrender, they’ll live, carried off as captives. As I read this, I can’t help but think that bargaining with God is never a smart thing to do, but doing so while still rebelling against him, well, that’s just plain crazy.
Take Away: Bargaining with the Lord is never a smart thing to do.
Devotional on Jeremiah
Hearing God on the good days
Jeremiah 22: I spoke to you when everything was going your way. You said, “I’m not interested.”
Here’s a spiritual principle that ought to resonate in our hearts. How hard is it for the Lord to get a hearing in my life when everything’s going well? Troubles and trials drive me to prayer and there’s certainly nothing wrong with that. How, though, about blessings? At one level, I need to remember to thank God for all he does for me. A beautiful sunrise ought to cause me to praise God for his handiwork. Big blessings and little ones should bring forth genuine gratitude from my heart. At another level, though, is my ability to hear and respond to the in-flight corrections the Lord has for me. Can I learn to listen for them and respond to them even when all is well? Does the Lord have to allow some unexpected trial into my life to get my attention? Generally speaking, I think the Lord wants us to live wonderfully blessed lives. Could it be possible that some trials would never come if I’d simply pay more attention to the Lord’s voice during the days of sunshine? I’m not sure how this fits into my broader theology of how God works in my life, but its food for thought today.
Take Away: Our problems drive us to prayer and so should our blessings.