TEXTS AND APPLICATION: In yesterday’s devotion, I wrote about my desire to speak only the Word of God. Today, I wonder what would keep me from speaking the Word of God.
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.
Jer. 38:6 So they took Jeremiah and dropped him into the cistern of Malchiah the king’s son, which was in the guard’s courtyard, lowering Jeremiah with ropes. There was no water in the cistern, only mud, and Jeremiah sank in the mud.
Even the cistern imprisonment and eventual release would 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). Apparently, Jeremiah saw the cost of his not obeying God as heavier than the cost of obeying Him.
Then I think of the things that might indeed keep me from speaking the Lord’s Word to somebody. Busyness. Fear. Weariness. Apathy. Pride.
Somehow, in the light of the story of Jeremiah, none of those reasons carries much weight.
PRAYER: “Lord, stop me and call me to repentance any time I dare come up with a reason not to speak Your Word. Today give me courage to speak truth to someone who needs You.”
TOMORROW’S READING: 2 Kings 24-25; 2 Chronicles 36