READING: Jeremiah 42:1-44:30, Ezekiel 33:21-33
As we begin a new work week together, I wonder what your goals, hopes, and commitments are for the week. I know the personal commitments I’ve made as I seek to cling to the Lord and find my peace in him even while I tackle the work of the Great Commission. What I also know, though, is that I have not always kept my stated commitments to the Lord in my almost 50 years of following Christ. Sometimes my actions have not always been consistent with words, I’m afraid.
At a national level, that’s where some of the Hebrew leaders were in today’s reading in Jeremiah. They had come to the prophet indicating they wanted to hear from the Lord. I suspect they really only wanted God to affirm the plans they had already made, but they nevertheless said, [May the Lord] “tell us the way we should go and the thing we should do” (Jer 42:3). Then, their commitment to obey the Lord was almost effusive: “May the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us if we don’t act according to every word the Lord your God sends you to tell us. Whether it is pleasant or unpleasant, we will obey the Lord our God to whom we are sending you so that it may go well with us. We will certainly obey the Lord our God!” (Jer 42:5-6).
I give them credit for their words: “No matter what the Lord says, we will obey Him” reflects the right attitude for all of us when we seek His guidance. On the other hand, what they actually did – “all the people failed to obey the Lord’s command” (Jer 43:4) – is exactly the wrong move. If we pray with integrity to follow the Lord in whatever He says, our only right option is to obey Him fully. It is to keep our word.
PERSONAL REFLECTION: Are you willing to follow the Lord whether His direction is “pleasant or unpleasant”?
DAILY PRAYER: “Father, I need Your help today to make my actions consistent with my commitments.”
TOMORROW’S READING: Ezekiel 34:1-36:38
