No Wonder Why He Wept

I’ve been reading the prophet Jeremiah for several weeks now.  Honestly, I haven’t wanted to.  Who wants to hear of God’s disappointment and impending discipline on a people who should have known better?  But, I have learned a lot along the way.  Jeremiah, also known as the weeping prophet, has been a good teacher.

I’ve learned that instead of going forward- toward God, we all have a tendency to go backward and follow the stubborn inclinations of our own heart.  I’ve learned that our own heart deceives us even though we think it’s so reliable.  I’ve learned that we are more prone to hear what we want, even when the words are opposed to God’s.  I’ve learned that we can stray if we don’t set up clear road signs and guide posts along the way.  And, most disturbingly, I’ve learned that God seems to have His limits.

Now, I know that the book of Jeremiah is written to a people who are brought into captivity because of their reckless and wayward ways.  That they have been warned time and time again to turn back to the truth and they persist on going their own way.  I also know that this is Old Testament, old covenant stuff.  Jesus hasn’t come yet and grace, although present, is not fully demonstrated through the cross.

How would you like to be the guy having to tell God’s people to straighten up, or else?  Jeremiah wept at the thought of God’s people being taken captive.  I’m sure he also had a difficult time reminding them that this wouldn’t be a quick fix, but would last seventy years.  No wonder why he wept.

Today, I am pondering what it is like having to encourage, warn and rebuke.  This is not just an Old Testament, old covenant, idea.  It says in 2 Timothy 4:2, Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. This is for today, under grace and in love.  Yet, it does make me weep.  Maybe I’m sad for myself, knowing that when I bring about words like this, I’m liable to be rejected just like Jeremiah was.  But, more than that, I am saddened by the response of His people that brush away the Word of the Lord to return to Him.

“Walk in obedience that it may go well with you,” Jeremiah said. “But they did not listen or pay attention, instead they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts.  They went backward and not forward.”  I’m preaching a series called Follow…and I need to do just that.  But, I’m not alone and I’m calling others to come along- going forward and not backward.  It really does make more sense to follow Him!

-Peter