READING: Lamentations 1-3, Hebrews 10:19-39
I have never met a Christian leader who fell who planned to do so. The folks I’ve met, in fact, have often said to me, “I just never thought it would happen to me.” Their failures often began as little compromises—a little sin here, and a little sin there. They seemingly “got away” with the indiscretion, perhaps even devised an excuse to justify it – and continued to walk toward disaster. What they never considered (most often until it was too late) were the repercussions of their choices on themselves, their loved ones, and their churches. Never did they stop to think how their future would be affected if they continued in their present path.
The writer of Lamentations reaches the same conclusion about Jerusalem as she lay in ruins under the judgment of God. The people of the city had played the role of a harlot, turning to false gods in uncleanness. Moreover, she “never considered her end” (Jer 1:9). God had warned her, but she must have thought such judgment would never come. As one writer described her thinking, “She resolutely refused to believe God’s warnings through his servants the prophets. In haughty pride she regarded herself as God’s favorite, a city exempt from the accountability required of others.”* Such thinking is dangerous indeed.
How much it matters that we consider the consequences of our choices before we choose to rebel against God! May He grant us wisdom to choose well today.
PRAYER: “God, sometimes I don’t think enough about what my choices may cost me. Make me wise today.”
TOMORROW’S READING: Lamentations 4-5, Hebrews 11
* Smith, J. E. (1992). The Major Prophets (La 1:8–9a). Joplin, MO: College Press.
