Today, I am reading and commenting on  Jeremiah 1-3.

Since I am going to be on vacation from July 31-August 9 I have already written my blog posts for these days and scheduled them to be posted.  However, I may not be able to post a link to them on FaceBook, Gab.com, or MeWe.com during every day (or any day) during this time period.  So, please continue to visit my site to read my daily devotional.

I recently started copying and pasting phrases from the passage into my drafts of these blogs as I came across things which struck me (sometimes I include them in the blog, sometimes I delete them after writing the thoughts they inspire).  Today I realized how much this helps me write this blog.  Jeremiah began his writings by discussing how he felt when God first called him, and God’s answers to his reservations.  There are lessons here for us today.  Jeremiah felt that he was too young and not a skilled enough speaker.  God’s answer to that applies to any who share that (and also to any who think they are too old).  You cannot be too young, nor too old to deliver the message God has given you. And you need not fear that you lack the skills to deliver God’s message: He will put the words in your mouth, or inspire you to the acts, that will communicate His message.  Do that which God calls you to do.

Which brings us to the message which God asked Jeremiah to deliver.  God had led the people of Israel out of slavery in Egypt, through the wilderness, and into a prosperous land, but they did not seek to follow His commands.  Instead they went after the idols of the people whom God displaced to settle them there.  Worse, not even the priests, the religious leaders sought after God.  Rather than call the people back to obedience to God they encouraged them in their idolatry.  I want to be careful here, because the parallel I am about to draw is imperfect.  God has delivered the peoples of Western Civilization into prosperity, a prosperity which rose from their following His will to a limited degree.  For many centuries, the peoples of Western Civilization would from time to time compare their actions to God’s ideals and see places where they fell short, then seek to correct their failings.  However, in recent times they have rejected God and sought after other “gods’.  All too often, even those who claim to speak on behalf of God encourage people to reject His word and seek salvation from other quarters. People have forsaken the spring of living water which is Christ and built cisterns which cannot hold water.  They have rejected God as the basis for morality and sought to impose a morality based on their own desires.  One needs only to look at our cities to see where this leads.

Jeremiah goes on further to diagnose the sinfulness of people and their unfaithfulness to God, but he also includes a word of hope.  God promises that when the people cry out to Him and turn back to Him, He will welcome them back and cure them of their backsliding.  Let us pray for the day when people will cry out:

Yes, we will come to you,
    for you are the Lord our God.

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