READING:
One-year plan: Jeremiah 3-6
Two-year plan: Isaiah 45:14-47:15, Colossians 4:2-18
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God was ready to bring judgment on Judah, but the people were hearing the voices of two very different kinds of prophets. On one hand were the false prophets who declared that God would not bring judgment, that all would be “peace, peace” (Jer 6:13-14). They ignored the Word of God and instead became “windbags,” in Jeremiah’s description:
- Jer 5:12-13 “They have contradicted the Lord and insisted, ‘It won’t happen. Harm won’t come to us; we won’t see sword or famine.’ The prophets become only wind, for the Lord’s word is not in them.”
On the other hand was Jeremiah. He was the prophet given a word of judgment that would be fire in his mouth, a message that would consume the people (Jer 5:14). He knew God’s wrath was to fall in the form of an invading nation. We are privileged to hear the cry of his heart as he considered all that would happen:
- Jer 4:19 “My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in agony! Oh, the pain in my heart! My heart pounds; I cannot be silent. For you, my soul, have heard the sound of the ram’s horn—the shout of battle.”
His was the pain of a truth-speaker, a God-listening prophet. On the outside he would speak the Word that judgment would come; on the inside his soul was torn up by the truth of that judgment. His very inner being was consumed with the anguish. His heart pounded as he contemplated the people of God refusing to turn back to Him.
So, I question today, “Does my heart grieve over the possibility of God’s judgment on those who do not follow Him? Are my insides in turmoil as I contemplate coming judgment?” Unless I genuinely grieve the reality of judgment, I doubt I will do much to challenge people to avoid that judgment. The routine of ministry mediocrity simply will not suffice when we realize that God is still judge.
PERSONAL REFLECTION: How do you feel as you consider lostness around you?
PRAYER: “God, break my heart over those who are under Your judgment.”
TOMORROW’S READING:
One-year plan: Jeremiah 7-11
Two-year plan: Isaiah 48:1-50:3, 1 Thessalonians 1
MEMORIZATION VERSE (August 1-15)
“Trust in the Lord forever, because in the Lord, the Lord himself, is an everlasting rock!” (Isa 26:4)