Today, I am reading and commenting on  Jeremiah 4-6.

I am going to write about two themes I read about in today’s passage, themes which I see applying to our society now.  On the one hand, the prophet calls on people to return to the Lord and give up detestable idols.  He calls for us to break up the unplowed ground of our hearts and plant a crop of righteousness so that nations and peoples throughout the world will invoke God and turn to Him.  On the other hand, he also tells us that instead of seeking God, everyone is greedy for gain and practice deceit.  As I read this I think of my friends who are quick to fall into “conspiracy theory” territory, blaming the ills of society on the deception and greed of the powerful, who work together to gain wealth and the expense of those without the connections to do likewise.  There is truth in what they say, but in many cases they are guilty of doing the same thing when they have the opportunity.  If you look around, everyone, from the least to the greatest, seeks to gain through fraud and deceit.  Those who should be calling people to account for their abuse of power, lie in order to favor their own interests, while those who should be calling people to serve God instead promote the behaviors which give them power and wealth.  Those who hold positions of authority apply bandaids where surgery is needed.  As a society we stand at a crossroad.  There are a few voices crying in the wilderness for us to follow the ancient path, tried and true, the path which has been shown to be a good way which leads to safety and rest.  But as a society we keep saying, “No, we don’t want to go that way. ”  And we do this despite the fact that anyone with eyes can see that the path we have chosen instead leads to disaster and those with ears can hear the disaster coming, because, as various Old Testament prophets prophesied, those with eyes do not perceive and those with ears do not listen.  Let us join with the prophet in pointing our friends and neighbors to the path which leads to righteousness, and let us walk that path, even if we must walk it alone.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.