Overview of: JeremiahToday's Reading:
Jer. 38:1 – 39:18
"Jeremiah's Bad News"
Focus Verses: Jeremiah 38:2-5
2 "This is what the LORD says: 'Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine or plague, but whoever goes over to the Babylonians will live. He will escape with his life; he will live.' 3 And this is what the LORD says: 'This city will certainly be handed over to the army of the king of Babylon, who will capture it.' " 4 Then the officials said to the king, "This man should be put to death. He is discouraging the soldiers who are left in this city, as well as all the people, by the things he is saying to them. This man is not seeking the good of these people but their ruin." 5 "He is in your hands," King Zedekiah answered. "The king can do nothing to oppose you."
Insight:
Getting encouragement and affirmation is always more pleasant than being rebuked and confronted. King Zedekiah didn't want bad news from Jeremiah, even if it was the truth. There were plenty of other "prophets" willing to tell him the things he wanted to hear.
People who think that the role of the church, Christian teachers, and Scripture is only to comfort and encourage them are dangerously mistaken. To be truly open to hearing from God, we must be willing to be confronted, challenged, rebuked, and corrected.
Response and Action:
I must soften my heart and have a readiness to hear straight talk, even when the truth hurts. I must be humble and acknowledge my faults. I must be realistic about consequences for sin. I want to seek the Lord and live by truth. I understand that growth and maturity require discipline and correction.
O God, give me a wise and humble heart. Help me to learn from my mistakes and to accept advice and counsel. Create in me a clean heart. Show me your ways. Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Amen.
Proverb for Today: Prov. 2:6
"For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding."
New Testament for Today: 2 Timothy 4:3-4
3 For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.
Recommended Reading:
A Long Obedience in the Same Direction
by Eugene Peterson
