Scripture: Jeremiah 4:19-31

“What are you doing, you who have been plundered? Why do you dress up in beautiful clothing and put on gold jewelry? Why do you brighten your eyes with mascara? Your primping will do you no good! The allies who were your lovers despise you and seek to kill you” (Jeremiah 4:30, NLT).

Observation:

The ancient Israelites displayed no understanding that their sin was bringing about their destruction. They had become “clever enough at doing wrong” and had “no idea how to do right” (v.22). They foolishly trusted their allies rather than God to help them. Their worship rituals were only cosmetic (v.30). They gave the impression of righteousness, but they lacked true obedience and repentance. Jeremiah foresaw their utter destruction, a destruction so vast it would seem as if their world had returned to its empty Genesis state (v.23-26). He experiences great pain (v.19), grieving their failure to return to God and receive his mercy.

Application:

I must submit to the Holy Spirit and allow him to purge me of my sinful nature. I cannot make up for my selfishness with “random acts of kindness.” I cannot hide my sin with church going, Bible reading, and prayer reciting. While appearances may matter to people, God “looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). Sin cannot be covered up. Christ’s blood alone can remove sin (Romans 3:25-26). God declares us right by our faith in Jesus expressed through true love for others, hatred of our sin, and our hold on what is good (Romans 12:9).

Prayer:

Father, thank you for saving me from utter destruction by the death of your Son. Keep me grounded in faith. Forgive my feeble attempts to cover over my sin. Purge me of my sinful nature. Create in me a clean heart filled with your love for others. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Scripture:  Jeremiah 4:3-18

“Plow up the hard ground of your hearts! Do not waste your good seed among thorns. O people of Judah and Jerusalem, surrender your pride and power. Change your hearts before the Lord, or my anger will burn like an unquenchable fire because of all your sins” (Jeremiah 4:3, 4, NLT).

Observation:

Through Jeremiah’s message, God announces to the ancient Israelites that destruction is on the way. Their evil choices have brought it about (v.18). Though they rebelled against him (v.17), God begs his people to cleanse their hearts so he can save them (v.14). Using a farming metaphor, he asks them to ready themselves to receive his mercy and grace by plowing up hard hearts and ridding themselves of thorny evil thoughts.

Application:

Plowing the soil requires that I surrender my pride (v.3). I must relinquish my ideas of why God should save me. I cannot trust in my efforts to justify myself through good works, Biblical knowledge, or conformity to rules. Plowing the soil also requires that I surrender my power. I must acknowledge that I can do nothing to save myself. I must stop engineering my own righteousness and allow Christ to transform me. Christ alone can save; I must receive his grace. Finally, I must not waste the mercy and grace Christ has sewn in me by allowing thorns to grow and choke these good seeds. I must be willing to let his Spirit expose and root out what doesn’t belong—nursed hurts, envy, jealousy, selfishness, resentments.

Prayer:

Father, I cannot save myself. I confess my paltry attempts to justify myself. I confess that I have chosen to do so in order to live by my standards and not yours. Forgive my proud, rebellious heart. Create in me a new clean heart, plowed and ready to receive your grace and mercy. Root out what doesn’t belong; make me willing to obey you. Save me because of your great love given me through your Son. In whose name I pray, Amen.

Scripture:  Jeremiah 3:16—4:2

“And when your land is once more filled with people,” says the Lord, “you will no longer wish for ‘the good old days’ when you possessed the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant. You will not miss those days or even remember them, and there will be no need to rebuild the Ark. In that day Jerusalem will be known as ‘The Throne of the Lord.’ All nations will come there to honor the Lord. They will no longer stubbornly follow their own evil desires” (Jeremiah 3:16, 17, NLT).

Observation:

In the midst of God’s lament about his people’s faithlessness, he speaks good news. He announces a time when all people, not just the Israelites, would be in covenant with him. This new covenant would not need the external symbolic God’s presence, the Ark of the Covenant. No one would long for the past because the present would be superior. With God enthroned within them, his people no longer are led astray by evil desires.

Application:

Am I fully attuned to God’s Spirit within me so that each day is better than the one before? Am I able to live without external symbols of God’s presence because I am burningly aware of God within me? Has my intimacy with God deepened from taking advantage of moment-by-moment opportunities to trust him? Have I followed him so closely that I know I can rely on him? Has my practiced reliance on him dissolved my stubborn pursuit of selfish desires?

Prayer:

Father, thank you for continually giving me more of yourself. Thank you for the abiding presence of your Spirit. Increase my trust in you; strengthen my reliance on you. Show me where I am stubbornly following my own path instead of living in and through your Son. In whose name I pray, Amen.

Scripture: Jeremiah 3:1-15

“O Israel, my faithless people, come home to me again, for I am merciful. I will not be angry with you forever. Only acknowledge your guilt. Admit that you rebelled against the Lord your God and committed adultery against him by worshiping idols under every green tree. Confess that you refused to listen to my voice. I, the Lord, have spoken!” (Jeremiah 3:12, 13, NLT).

Observation:

God compares the idol-worshiping, ancient Israelites to an adulterous spouse. Incredulously the adulterous spouse asks the mate not to be angry and to forgive and to forget. But the adulterous spouse only talks about reconciliation while continuing to stray (v.5). The faithless spouse only pretends to be sorry—after all, there are hard times ahead and the mate has provided in the past (v.10). Although the adulterous spouse never sincerely returns to the mate (v.10), God, the wronged spouse, says, “Come home.” (v.12).

Application:

God’s love for us is overwhelming. Despite our rebellious, stubborn, self-centered, and pleasure-seeking lives, God says, “Return. I am merciful.” The only thing that separates us from intimate union with him is our own refusal to acknowledge the sin in our lives. If we confess our sin, listen to his voice, and pursue him, he will even make the first move toward reconciliation–“I will bring you back” (v.14). God even provides the counselors, shepherds after his own heart, who will guide us with knowledge and understanding (v.15). What amazing love!

Prayer:

Father, how great is your love toward us that you seek our return, forgive our transgressions, and heal our wounds. Show me the areas of my life in which I have pretended rather than pursued you. May my repentance be genuine. Guide me to deeper knowledge and understanding of you. Forgive my faithlessness, and knit my heart to yours. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Scripture:   Jeremiah 2:31-37

“O my people, listen to the words of the Lord! Have I been like a desert to Israel? Have I been to them a land of darkness? Why then do my people say, ‘At last we are free from God! We don’t need him anymore!’” (Jeremiah 2:31, NLT).

Observation:

God had redeemed, lead, protected, provided for, and forgiven his people for generations. He demonstrated his power to save through miraculous signs. Yet in Jeremiah’s message, God pours out his bewilderment that these same people would abandon him when they need him most. In fact, they don’t recognize their need of him and see their abandonment as freedom from the law of his love.

Application:

The two rhetorical questions, “Have I been like a desert to Israel? Have I been to them a land of darkness?”, deserve an emphatic, “No!” Fellowship with God is not a barren place bereft of life. Rather, that intimacy is the source of life and fruitfulness. God is a light to our own darkness; there is nothing hidden or obscure about his desire to love us, empower us, and lead us.

Prayer:

Father, Giver of Life, thank you that you are the light in the darkness. Teach me to walk in your path of light and life. Awaken me to my need of you. Forgive me when I am tempted to turn aside to the barrenness and darkness of worldly concerns. Keep me grounded in your love. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Scripture:  Jeremiah 2:18-30

“They turn their backs on me, but in times of trouble they cry out to me, ‘Come and save us!’ But why not call on these gods you have made? When trouble comes, let them save you if they can!” (Jeremiah 2:27b, 28a, NLT).

Observation:

Because of their moral corruptness, the ancient Israelites refused the prophets’ warnings to repent and to obey the Lord. Instead they continued in their worship of other nations’ false gods. God alone had the power to rescue them from the coming clash with the Babylonians. Yet they persisted in their worship of other gods excusing it with, “I’m in love . . . I can’t stop” (v.25). Instead of seeking God’s help, they made alliances with two of their former enemies, Egypt and Assyria, who themselves were under threat of Babylonian invasion (v.18).

Application:

Perhaps all sin is replacing God in our lives with something we feel will bring us what we want while pursuing the lifestyle we have chosen. Following Christ is not a quick fix. Prayer is not a last minute “punt” to rescue the game. The blessing of God comes from pursuing a life yielded to him which leads us away from the dangers inherent in pursuing selfishness. Through his death and resurrection, Christ has broken the chains of sin’s slavery (v.20). Yet if we refuse to go his way, we will find to our shame what an “evil, bitter thing it is to abandon the Lord” (v.19). What is pursued in the place of God is not capable of saving us (v.27,28). The distance our rebellion has created renders us unable to seek Truth and pursue it (v.29,30).

Prayer:

Father, thank you for breaking sin’s yoke of slavery. Thank you for your Spirit who guides me into truth and away from the danger of selfish living. Make me aware of anything I am pursuing that is not you. Forgive me for the times I have not honored you as God by rebelling against your leading. Cleanse me from my sin, and renew my desire to follow your Son. In whose name I pray, Amen.