READING: Jeremiah 38
“King Zedekiah sent for the prophet Jeremiah and received
him at the third entrance of the Lord’s temple.”
Jeremiah 38:14
What keeps you from talking about God? Many believers answer with “fear,” “busyness,” “apathy,” or “lack of training.” And, would you speak about Him if you were facing persecution?
Jeremiah was imprisoned in a dungeon (Jer. 37:11-21) until Zedekiah agreed to release him only to the court of the guard. So, Jeremiah had already paid a price for his faithfulness. In fact, he had been beaten, and the dungeon was so bad that Jeremiah was sure he would die there (Jer. 37:15, 20).
Still, imprisonment did not keep the prophet from speaking God’s Word. He spoke the Word again about coming judgment (Jer. 38:1-3) — and that faithfulness would get him cast into a cistern. In that cistern “there was no water . . . only mud, and Jeremiah sank in the mud” (Jer. 38:6).
Even the cistern imprisonment and eventual release did not stop Jeremiah’s proclamations, however. Still he spoke the Word of the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel (Jer. 38:17). Still, he spoke hard words of judgment to the king. Apparently, Jeremiah saw the cost of his not obeying God as heavier than the cost of obeying Him.
I need to think the same way.
ACTION STEPS:
- Write a note to tell someone about Jesus today.
- Make a phone call, and use that phone call to encourage somebody.
PRAYER: “Lord, give me such a passion to speak for You that I do it much more regularly than I do now.”
TOMORROW’S READING: 2Kings 24-25, 2 Chronicles 36:1-21, Jeremiah 52
