Wednesday, October 19 - Kathryn

Today's reading from the Chronological OT/NT Reading Plan is Jeremiah 3-5, Acts 27:1-26

I bet I could look back on the past 10 posts of mine and they would all have the same theme: the immorality in our nation today.  But I can't help it, I see it in scripture, especially the prophets.  It's like they are talking exactly about our world today.  I thought I'd apologize about it, but I won't, because Jeremiah doesn't and neither does any of the other prophets and neither should we.

I see us in our reading in Jeremiah.  It's all there, we have become immoral, we have farmed ourselves out to other gods and we are shameless about it.  God knows about our prostitution and has sent disaster and calamity upon us, and while it is for our punishment, it's not out of spite.  God punishes so that we turn back to Him.  All throughout this reading there is the promise of healing, redemption, mercy and grace.  He wants us to be broken and realize our need for Him.  He wants us to want Him.  And He does whatever He has to to turn us back.  But we must turn back to Him.  He cannot make us change.

I echo the prophet:

Oh, my anguish, my anguish!
   I writhe in pain.
Oh, the agony of my heart!
   My heart pounds within me,
   I cannot keep silent.
For I have heard the sound of the trumpet;
   I have heard the battle cry.
Disaster follows disaster;
   the whole land lies in ruins.
In an instant my tents are destroyed,
   my shelter in a moment.
How long must I see the battle standard
   and hear the sound of the trumpet?

How many times do we hear others speak of the deplorable state our government and our nation is in?  Even the unsaved/unrighteous/unchurched can see it.  It is no longer questionable, we cannot ignore it anymore.  This is not just a happenstance, I believe the Lord has brought this upon us to specifically bring us back to Him.

But there is hope:

This is what the LORD says:
   “The whole land will be ruined,
   though I will not destroy it completely. 

There is always a remnant.  God does not maim so badly that He cannot heal.  And we must understand God judges and is angry, but He does not lash out IN anger.  He judges because He is desperate for us.  He wants us to be in sweet fellowship with Him.  But He cannot be in fellowship with our sin.  Our sin disgusts Him.  He will not share us with another.  He wants all of us.

The very end of the Jeremiah reading was so appropriate to end with.

“A horrible and shocking thing
   has happened in the land:
The prophets prophesy lies,
   the priests rule by their own authority,
and my people love it this way.
   But what will you do in the end?

My people love it this way.  It's true, or things would change.  We love our independence, don't we?  And in the end we have a choice.  Literally, it's God's way or our way.

 Tomorrow's passage: Jeremiah 6, Jeremiah 11-12, Acts 27:27-44