READING: Jeremiah 41-44, Hebrews 4-5
How I wish I could convince others—and, frankly, myself at times—that to ignore the word of God is not a smart move. We who are believers know that truth intellectually, but I’m not certain we live that way experientially. How we say we must live and how we actually live aren’t always congruent; in fact, they’re sometimes contradictory. We’re too often like the Hebrews of Jeremiah’s day – we may invite hearing God’s word, but then we decide whether we want to listen to it. We say to those who lead us spiritually, even if we do so more by our actions and with less obvious words, “As for the word you spoke to us in the name of the Lord, we are not going to listen to you!” (Jer 44:16).
Of course, the betrayal of the people in Jeremiah’s day was dramatic and deep. They (beginning apparently with the women) had already been sacrificing to false gods, and they and their husbands had no mind to change that direction. In fact, they asserted that they had received greater blessings when following their idols, and their choosing to reject their false gods (likely under Josiah’s reforms) had led only to difficulty and trouble. They did not see the connection between their sin and judgment; likewise, they could not perceive of following God if He didn’t bless them like other gods did. “Hear the word of the Lord” (Jer 44:24) meant little to them.
Lest we fail to see ourselves in them, however, sometimes we, too, pay too little attention to the Word of the Lord. May God help us to listen better and respond more obediently.
PRAYER: “God, I don’t want to be guilty of ignoring Your word. Turn my ears toward listening well.”
TOMORROW’S READING: Jeremiah 45-48, Hebrews 6