Good morning, everyone!
Today I read Jeremiah 18-22, and in today's reading, Jeremiah gets beaten up.
No. Seriously.
God sends Jeremiah to tell the king and the priests about the prophecies which God has given him concerning the punishment and downfall of Israel and Judah due to their sins.
The priests, particularly Passhur, don't like this information, and Passhur has Jeremiah beaten and thrown into the stocks.
When Jeremiah is released, he has a word for Passhur from God, that Passhur will witness the downfall of Judah, and then Passhur will be taken into captivity in Babylon where he will die.
The Israelites were a stubborn people, weren't they? Even God's priests didn't want to hear anything except that God would bless them.
But that wasn't the message they needed. And it isn't the message we need.
We all need the truth. The truth is found in God's Word. We can't choose part of it and leave the rest alone. We can't ignore one commandment we don't like and keep the rest. All of God's commandments must be obeyed. All of His word is meant for us, to teach us.
And the truth is that God wants to bless us, to see us succeed, but we cannot succeed or be blessed if we are in sin the way Israel often was. We cannot serve ourselves and God. We must choose. God or our flesh. God's plans or our plans. God's will or our will.
And sometimes those do line up. Sometimes we want something that is right in line with God's will for us. Sometimes we want something that He is happy to give us (not always exactly when we want it).
But sometimes our flesh wants something that isn't good for us, that would cause us to stray from God. Sometimes it is something that would bring calamity on us. And so God says no.
And that's where our choice comes in. We can still choose to do it, but if we know His answer is no, we shouldn't.
So, here is the truth that the Israelites didn't want to hear:
God will not bless sin.
He understands when we mess up, but we have to ask forgiveness. If we don't, if we continue to abound in sin and pride, God does not bless that.
Okay. That was a little heavy today. Still, I hope you learned today as I did. I also hope you'll join me tomorrow when I read Jeremiah 23-25.
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