Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Jeremiah 46
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Jeremiah 45
Have you ever had someone try to comfort you in a situation, simply by telling you how much worse the situation could be? I remember watching a show one time where two guys are out on the ocean in a boat on a beautiful day. Suddenly the boat begins to take on water, and these two guys get their life jackets and prepare to go into the water. Eventually the boat sinks and these two guys are left treading water. The owner of the boat is devastated, but his friend tries to cheer him up by saying, "We'll it could have been worse." "How could it have been worse?" The friend says, "There could have been sharks in the water here." And of course, then a fin begins to circle them. Don't worry...this was a comedy so they didn't get eaten.
Baruch had simply done what God wanted him to do. He had written and delivered the words of Jeremiah and as a result had received much of the same grief and trouble that Jeremiah endured. I'm sure Baruch found this difficult to take, and probably slightly unfair. However the assurance that God gave was that Baruch's nation was going to crumble around him, and that God was going to allow it to happen. But Baruch was told that his life will be spared. He's not promised that it will be easy, but he's promised that he will live. I'm sure Baruch may have felt much like the man who jumped from a sinking ship into shark-infested waters. What did he have to live for? God wanted to continue using him. The Lord tells Baruch that his life will be preserved for all the places he will go. So there would be a lot of change in this man's life. You may feel that you're moving from one bad situation to another, or that your string of misfortune is more than most people around you are going through. Never forget that God is completely aware of who and where you are. There is never a time that He is taken by surprise by an event in your life, and just because your plans are thrown off kilter, doesn't mean that His are. Don't allow yourself to dwell on circumstances. Instead, pray diligently for wisdom and understanding on how you should handle situations you find yourself in. People who fail to pray, find themselves praying even harder later in an attempt to undo the work they attempted on their own.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Jeremiah 44
Athletes are a very superstitious bunch. I read of a pitcher that always wore the same pair of underwear every time it was his turn to start a game. On a particular outing, he got blasted early and lost the game. He later said that he hadn't worn his lucky underwear that day. I don't know if he really believed that or not, but I did wonder if he went on the mound thinking that he had already messed up and that it got into his head a little bit. His ability came from his arm, but not underwear, but he was having a little trouble giving the proper credit to the proper things in his life.
The people of Judah were giving credit to the wrong person. They had been sacrificing to false gods, and everything seemed to be going just fine. Then when Babylon came, the people's lives were thrown into turmoil and their daily routines were interrupted. Many of the people credited that interruption of devotion to a false god as the reason for their upheaval. They didn't realize that the reason they had been able to remain in their nation during days of disobedience to God was as result of His patience and continued efforts to make all the Jews aware of the judgement to come. There were so many prophets all giving the same declaration of impending doom, but the people ignored it. Who's getting the credit in your life? Are you telling others of the great work God is doing in your life, or do fully accept the praise that people give you? Don't give yourself too much credit for the good things you have, because pride is always the downfall of the Christian. We begin to think that we deserve certain things, and we rely more on ourselves and less on our God. Who is your trust really in? If you're unsure, think about how many times this week you've listened to God's instruction and how many times you've simply went with your own plans. The ability to do anything comes from God, and He may take away those abilities if they are causing us more harm than good.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Jeremiah 43
When I got ready to leave for Army Basic Training, I called my uncle who is an officer in the Army. I asked him what I should expect, and all he would tell me is "don't volunteer for anything." So when we were all snapped to attention in week three, I tried to look as inconspicuous as possible. They started calling names, and I did my best to be invisible. The drill sergeants were just berating these guys as they pulled them out of formation. Finally my name was called and I went through an hour of being put in stress positions before being told I was now placed in charge of the platoon. I couldn't have avoided being called on, because they had already chosen me and five squad leaders to lead the platoon. It seemed random, but had been completely thought through and set up.
It seems that the original reason these Jews in Jeremiah 43 were leaving was because they were afraid they would be blamed for a murder they didn't commit. After God makes it clear that they will not, the people accuse Jeremiah of lying about what God said and they head off to Egypt anyway. Their intention no longer seems to be avoiding punishment for the murder, but to avoid living under Babylonian rule. But the Babylonians came because all of Judah, including these people, had lived in rebellion against God. They would not be permitted to just escape correction, so now they have carried their sins amongst the Egyptians who will also suffer because of the disobedience of the Jews. These Jews thought that they had just hit some bad luck and they were trying to escape. Just like my experience in basic training, the Jews were receiving the judgment that was specifically laid out for them. Some would die, some would fight, and some would simply be imprisoned. They couldn't even escape to Egypt to avoid it. God would have made things easier if they had obeyed, but they chose their own way. Do you want to avoid judgment over your sin? Do you know how to do it? Repent. It doesn't mean we'll always miss the correction that God brings, but there are plenty of examples in the Bible where people were able to lessen the judgment by recognizing their sin (Zeph 2:1-3, 1 Corinthians 11:29-31). So what sin have you been trying to ignore, in the hopes that God will too? Perhaps He has withheld correction to give you a chance to recognize the problem as you choose to make different choices. Stop trying to avoid the truth of your sin, and confront it in the grace and forgiveness of Jesus Christ.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Jeremiah 42
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Jeremiah 41
There are a lot of names in this account, but here is gist of what's going on. Babylon conquered Jerusalem, and in order to help maintain order on their new territory, the king of Babylon appointed a Jewish person, Gedaliah, as governor over the region. It was a way to help ease the transition of power, and really a very generous move on the part of the Babylonian king. Ishmael was also a Jew and considered Gedaliah to be a traitor agreeing to serve in this way, so Ishmael gets some men together to assassinate him and they even carry away some prisoners just to show how serious they are. Johanan was a captain in Judah's army and he hears of this and goes to free the prisoners, which goes fine. As a result of the action of Ishmael, all of these people are now on the run though. Even though they had nothing to do with the assassination of Gedaliah, they feared there would be repurcussions on them, so they planned an escape to Egypt.
One person can really gum up the works. I'm sure Ishmael felt that he was doing a great service for God's people by assassinating the Jewish governor. However, God had been communicating through Jeremiah that Babylon would be in charge for a while, and they needed to submit to that rule for a time. And so the actions of one man, put a large group of people in danger. It's very frustrating to see people make choices without thinking about the consequences or effects on other people. As a father, I recognize that the choices I make will have a direct impact on my wife and on my children. My son sees the choices I make, and perhaps they won't float to the surface for many years, but it's very likely that his choices as a husband and father will be influenced by what he saw me do. Who are you influencing around you? Before you answer that too quickly, really take an inventory of the people that you interact with on a daily basis. Some of the people we are with most often (family and co-workers) are the people who start to lose importance because of familiarity with them. You are making an impact. You need to consider your words and actions from yesterday. Our most important evaluation is what God thought of our day yesterday, but second is what did people think of us yesterday? Did they see us as someone living out a genuine faith? Or were they put off by our attitudes and actions?
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Jeremiah 40
My co-workers in college knew that I was a Christian. In the early years, it was mainly because of the things I talked about and the items I had around my desk. I was talking about Jesus and God, but I wasn't always actively living my faith out. They didn't seem to be impressed by my words, but they were impressed when I would do unselfish acts. There were lots of extra paperwork responsibilities that people in the office didn't like to do, so I started doing them. I didn't tell people what I was doing to help, but eventually people would see me from time to time. That made a bigger impact on people listening to me about my faith than anything else.
I love it when God's work becomes clear to non-believers. In this passage you have a Babylonian general who holds Jeremiah in great respect. I'm sure he never read the Hebrew bible and knew little about the God of the Jews, but he knew when a prophecy came true. Everything Jeremiah had spoken for God came true, and Nebuzaradan holds Jeremiah in higher respect that Jeremiah's own people did. I wish more people would be vocal about their faith, but I think there is something to the idea that living our lives as Christians will influence others as well. Here an unbeliever was influenced by a believer who did everything God wanted him to, even when it was tough. That's authentic. Jeremiah didn't know about God...He knew God. Do people around you consider you religious? Perhaps they make comments about your office decorations or your church attendance, but it doesn't necessarily affect their lives. I don't think that non-believers are impressed by our religious stuff. They are impressed when we act as selfless people and show that we consider others around us more important than ourselves. We can draw the lost simply by being authentic in our relationship with God. The world doesn't need more religious people carrying around their churchy checklist. They need sincere followers of Christ who live their entire day considering the desires of God and the needs of people.