August 19th

Today's reading from the One Year Bible Chronological Reading Plan is Ezekiel 14-16

The passage of today's readings that I found rather fascinating was the section on Noah, Daniel and Job.

It seems that the people were under some sort of delusion that God wouldn't actually punish Israel because of the faithful remnant - reminiscent of Abraham praying to save Sodom if there were 10 righteous men in the city.

But Ezekiel firmly and repeatedly states that people are not saved corporately, they are saved personally.

Our parents, no matter how devoted they are to God, cannot save us. Going to a Bible-preaching church won't save us.

Every single individual needs to have their own personal relationship with Jesus in order to be saved.

Now, why these 3 men in particular? I looked up a few different sermons and commentaries and here are some of their thoughts....

Mark McWhorter (in a children's sermon) says that It is possible that God is representing different aspects with the three men. Noah represented preaching to the world. Daniel represented preaching to a nation. And Job represented preaching to a family. These three great men fulfilled their roles well. Yet, not even these men, if they preached at this time, could get God's people to listen to them. (It is interesting that Daniel was living at this time but was not prophesying as yet.)

Here is another possible way God was using the three men. Noah represented the preaching realm. He preached to the world. Daniel was in the political realm. He had a good amount of power and was close to the ruler. Job was a wealthy man with many possessions as well as a loyal family. He represented a family man. These men were successful in each area of life represented. But even if they could bring the message that Ezekiel was bringing, it would not matter. The people that Ezekiel was speaking to were not going to listen.

According to this sermon, another possibility is that the 3 men represented different portions of the scripture at the time (the Law, the Prophets and the Writings which were everything else) - Noah was the earliest patriarch and represented the Law or the Torah, Daniel represented the Prophets and Job the Writings. The Word of God (the Law, the Prophets, the Writings) cannot save us either - only the saving blood of Christ can save us. The Word is obviously extremely valuable to the believer, but is not what saves us.

The same sermon or commentary adds that we can see some symbolism of the Trinity here, with Noah, the father of nations representing God the Father; Job, the suffering servant representing the Son; and Daniel, the prophet, representing the Holy Spirit.

The three men also represent the universal nature of God's work.....
Noah was the father of all the nations, of course, after the Flood. God made a covenant with him that was supposed to apply to all humanity, not just Israel (see Gen. 9:12-16). Job was from the land of Seir (Edom), as far as we know, probably before Israel even left Egypt – he was not an Israelite. Finally, Daniel lived almost his entire life in Babylon & Persia, and his prophecies – unlike those of the other Major Prophets – focused primarily on the rise and fall of empires outside Israel, rather than the future of Israel itself. They were the perfect characters to illustrate the universal problem of sin and judgment (”for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” Rom. 3:23), and the universal solution that God provides – salvation through the blood of Jesus (”all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus,” Rom. 3:24).

Tomorrow's passage: Ezekiel 17-19

August 18th

Today's reading from the One Year Bible Chronological Reading Plan is Ezekiel 10-13.

Scripture
I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God. Ezekiel 11:19-20

Observation
True conversion, brought about solely by the grace of God, results in obedience out of love for God.

Application
An undivided heart refers to the desires of our souls. It is human (sinful) for our hearts to be focused on many different gods (be they tangible idols, or intangible ones such as money and power). An undivided heart would be a heart that is focused on serving God alone.

A heart of stone obviously does not refer to our physical hearts as we would be dead if we actually had hearts of stone. And that is the exact spiritual application. Without God we are spiritually dead.

In his sermon The Heart Transplant, Ben Edgington says....
We do not love him, we do not believe him, we do not trust him, we do not delight in him, we do not obey him. As far as God is concerned, our inner beings are as responsive as rocks.

This is the way we are born. Not one of us was born with a heart that is alive to God. Ever since the Fall, we have inherited a defect that has left us with a heart problem; a heart made of stone; an inner being that is dead towards God.

The prophet Jeremiah, a contemporary of Ezekiel's, says, The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Our heart condition cannot be cured. We cannot make ourselves alive to God. We cannot make our cold, stone, lifeless hearts beat with warmth towards God any more than we can take a rock and make it live.

I really like the analogy Ben uses in his sermon. Our heart of stone is the diagnosis, the treatment is a heart transplant, the only doctor that can perform that surgery is God himself, and the donor for the heart transplant is Jesus Christ.

Similar scriptural passages promise the same thing....

For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. You will live in the land I gave your forefathers; you will be my people, and I will be your God. I will save you from all your uncleanness. Ezekiel 36:24-29a

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Psalm 51:10

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 2 Corinthians 5:17

This process of regeneration can only be performed by God himself, but we need to be willing patients for this surgery. And we will be able to tell if the surgery was truly successful by our post-operative behaviour.

Prayer
Lord, thank you for being the surgeon that can replace our hearts of stone with a heart of flesh. Jesus, we thank you for being the donor for us. The condition of our hearts was incurable and impossible from a human standpoint. Only your perfect sacrifice and the miraculous work you perform in our hearts and lives can result in our lives being transformed. Thank you for your mercy and grace. Help us to live our lives in obedience, dedication, devotion and love for you alone. Amen.

Tomorrow's passage: Ezekiel 14-16

August 17 - Miriam

Today's reading from the One Year Bible Chronological Reading Plan is Ezekiel 5-9.

The Book of Ezekiel, Part 1 from bible.org covers the theme of the first 24 chapters of the book of Ezekiel.  A couple of excerpts from the commentary:

One of the most basic weaknesses of the church today is not having enough emphasis on the knowledge of God. J. I. Packer, in the preface of his book Knowing God, writes:


The conviction behind the book is that ignorance of God – ignorance both of His ways and of the practice of communion with Him – lies at the root of much of the church’s weakness today. . . The modern way with God is to set Him at distance, if not to deny Him altogether; and the irony is that modern Christians, preoccupied with maintaining religious practices in an irreligious world, have allowed God to become remote.


Knowing God is the basic theme of the Book of Ezekiel. The phrase, “They/you shall know that I am the Sovereign Lord” is used around 70 times in this book.


On the one hand, the book presents God as holy and sovereign. On the other, it provides the picture of the sad predicament that the people of God – in a sense the whole world – has come into because of their lack of the knowledge of God.


It is not just the lack of the knowledge of God; it is a lack of desire for the knowledge of God. The picture is of willful ignorance and rebellion in spite of God’s clear revelation. The Apostle Paul writes in the New Testament:


The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools (Romans 1:18-23).


If God holds the heathen accountable for their willful ignorance of the knowledge of God, how much more His own people, who in spite of His clear revelation in His Word would ignore Him?

The emphasis in the New Testament is upon the love of God, and the grace of God. We do not talk much about the holiness of God and the wrath of God. However, why would we need the grace of God if there was no cause for the wrath of God? The tendency in the church today is to give them the “good” news; why talk about the bad news? However, the good news is good news only in the background of the bad news. But we do not want to scare the “seekers” away by preaching the wrath of God!
The result is that we have produced a wishy-washy Christianity that talks only about the promises of God, without mentioning commitment to God, and brings God down to the level of a vending machine. Again, hear what Packer says about the subject of God’s wrath:
The modern habit throughout the Christian church is to play the subject down. Those who still believe in the wrath of God (not all do) say little about it; perhaps they do not think much about it. To an age which has unashamedly sold itself to the gods of greed, pride, sex and self-will, the church mumbles about God’s kindness, but virtually says nothing about God’s judgment.
There is no other book in the whole Bible that presents the sins of God’s people in as much detail as the Book of Ezekiel. Do you want to get the full picture of the sinfulness of man? Do you want to get the full picture of the hopeless situation of man? Do you want to get the full picture of the awesome character of God and His holiness? Do you want to get the full picture of the wrath of God? Study the Book of Ezekiel, and your life will be transformed.

Tomorrow's passage: Ezekiel 10-13.

August 16th

Today's reading from the One Year Bible Chronological Reading Plan is Ezekiel 3:16-4:17; Jeremiah 27-28:17; Jeremiah 51:59-64

Scripture
"Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. When I say to a wicked man, 'You will surely die,' and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. But if you do warn the wicked man and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his evil ways, he will die for his sin; but you will have saved yourself. Ezekiel 3:17-19

Observation
Ezekiel was to be a watchman for Israel, and, though he was not responsible for the Israelites response to God's messages, he was responsible to deliver the message God had given him.

Application
From my Life Application bible
God's description of Ezekiel as a watchman on the walls of the city captures the personal nature of his ministry. A watchman's job was dangerous. If he failed at his post, he and the entire city might be destroyed. His own safety depended on the quality of his work. The importance of each person's accountability before God was a central part of Ezekiel's message. He taught the exiles that God expected personal obedience and worship from each of them.

Just like Ezekiel, we are responsible to share the Good News with those around us. We are not responsible for their reaction to it, but we will be held accountability for our obedience (or disobedience) to God.

This is a bit of a wake up call for me. Witnessing is not something only some people are called to do. It's not optional.

Prayer
Lord, if we truly believe the Good News, and if we truly believe in a literal heaven and hell, then we should be passionate about sharing this Good News to those around us. But sometimes complacency, or fear or rejection, or any other excuse, causes us to be hesitant about speaking out. Give us the courage we need and give us the opportunity to share Your incredible news with those around us. Amen.

Tomorrow's passage: Ezekiel 5-9

Sunday Guest Post By Alicia

Today's reading from the One Year Bible Chronological Reading Plan is Jeremiah 37:11-38:28, Ezekiel 1-3:15

I'm sorry for getting this out so late, it was so much to digest that I was having a difficult time.

Jeremiah leaves us rather on the brink of the final curtain falling. We head over into Ezekiel who was taken exile after Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem on March 16, 597 BC. He was one of 10,000 taken at this time. Final destruction would come in 586 BC.
Since this is a pretty intense book of the bible, I really recommend taking the time to read the introduction to the book if you have a study bible. Although it will be interesting, it's full of difficult and debated imagery. I even found it interesting when looking at my two favorite pastor's (besides my own who is excellent) John MacArthur and John Piper did NOT have Ezekiel in their scriptural sermon menu.
The first section of Ezekiel introduces us right away to some of the most intense imagery. My personality is to investigate as much as I can to practically understand these images. So, I will link you in a moment here to what I felt was very helpful for that. Instead of reading much here, I think you would benefit more from being sent to this link, and it's not very long.
Before I do I wanted to say something I was thinking about though regarding this imagery. Like doctrinal differences, which are important, imagery interpretation (more so I think) can be a distraction from the main point God wants us to get. It's incredibly fascinating that God put this imagery and vision in scripture and I'm sure he's excited when we run with our investigations into what he put there for us. However, I was reminding myself not to forget the point of these passages. They are bringing the judgement of an all knowing, directional, focused, sovereign God on a people who he has long warned this was coming. It's obviously a huge historical occasion in God's mind to let us see the supernatural side of these happenings. Though we are awed, we have to remember this supernatural stuff is going on around us all the time unseen. God's purposes are awesome and intense. The point of the beginning of Ezekiel is to take God seriously at what he warns and says he will do. To recognize the power of his glory and might and the lesson to be learned of his judgements.
On that note, I hope you enjoy this page on the details of some of that intriguing imagery.

Tomorrow's Passage:
Ezekiel 3:16-4:17; Jeremiah 27-28:17; Jeremiah 51:59-64

August 14th

Today's reading from the One Year Bible Chronological Reading Plan is Jeremiah 51:15-58; 2 Chronicles 36:6-10; 2 Kings 24:10-17; 1 Chronicles 3:10-16; 2 Chronicles 36:11-14; Jeremiah 52:1-3; 2 Kings 24:18-20; Jeremiah 37:1-10.

Scripture
Neither he nor his attendants nor the people of the land paid any attention to the words the Lord had spoken through Jeremiah the prophet. King Zedekiah, however, send Jehucal son of Shelemiah with the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah to Jeremiah the prophet with this message: "Please pray to the Lord our God for us." Jeremiah 37:2-3

Observation
King Zedekiah and his officials didn't want to listen to Jeremiah words or warning and judgement, but they still wanted the benefit of his prayers and blessings.

Application
From my Life Application Bible
King Zedekiah and his officials did not want to listen to Jeremiah's words, but they wanted the blessings of his prayers. They wanted a superficial religion that wouldn't cost anything. But God is not pleased with those who come to him only for what they can get rather than seeking to establish or deepen a relationship with him. We would not accept that kind of relationship with someone else, and we shouldn't expect God to accept it from us.

So often we want God to be a genie in a bottle. We want to be able to live our lives however we think is best, virtually ignoring Him and our so-called relationship with Him, until we need something. Then all of a sudden we have time to pray - at least the part of prayer that involves supplication anyway.

That's not a relationship. There's nothing genuine about that and God is not pleased with it in any way, shape or form. It is not acceptable.

We try to get the best of both worlds - live how we want, yet still receive God's blessings. We want to have our cake and eat it to. It doesn't work that way.

We need to be willing to accept both discipline and blessing, both accountability and mercy from our God who is not only merciful, loving and compassionate, but holy, wrathful and just. Sometimes we like to put God in a box - asking "How could a loving God send anyone to hell?" instead of "How could a just God let anyone into heaven?" We cannot limit God to any one attribute.

Prayer
Lord, we thank you that it is even possible for us to have a relationship with the Lord of the universe! Help us not to take that for granted. Help us to realize what an absolutely precious gift that is. Help us not to relegate you to genie status, but to invest in a relationship with you, to spend time with you, glorifying you and getting to know you better so we can become more like you. Give us an all-consuming desire for YOU.
Amen.

Tomorrow's passage: Jeremiah 37:11-38:28, Ezekiel 1-3:15

August 13 ~ tammi

Today's reading from the One-Year Bible Chronological Reading Plan is Jeremiah 31:15-40; 49:34-51:14.

At first blush, I'll admit today's reading bored me a little. But then I started thinking about what I was reading and suddenly it became considerably more interesting.

Jeremiah concludes his letter to the Israelites already in captivity promising their eventual restoration, but also brings the exciting news of a NEW COVENANT with God! I've never thought much about it, but this must have created quite a buzz! For hundreds of years now they've been moved together as a nation by God ~ rewarded as a nation for faithfulness and punished as a nation for waywardness ~ but now they get wind of a day when they will be held accountable as individuals rather than corporately. No longer will future generations bear the direct punishments their ancestors received as a result of past sins. I imagine this was pretty huge news!

And probably came as something of a relief, something to look forward to, for those who had believed God and yet still found themselves in captivity due to the general unbelief of their fellow countrymen. Not only were they being promised physical, geographical restoration, but a form of spiritual restoration that would and could no longer be affected by the practices of those around them.

Then we come to more pronouncements of judgement against the surrounding nations and one thing that I found interesting is the statement at the end of the prophecy against Elam: "Yet I will restore the fortunes of Elam in days to come," declares the LORD. (49:39)

I thought that sounded familiar, and sure enough, we read similar statements concluding the prophecies against Moab and Ammon, of all things! These were nations God HATED! And yet in 48:47 and 49:6 we see Him saying the same things ~ future restoration for these nations as well.

I had to do some digging because it seems a lot of commentaries kind of skip over these verses and focus only on the judgments, but the Jamieson, Fausset & Brown commentaries on Chapter 48 and Chapter 49 make some interesting points about these verses:

• Restoration was promised to Moab and Ammon for the sake of Lot, their "founding father," who was credited with righteousness. This was partially fulfilled under Cyrus, and in Gospel times more fully.


• The "latter days" referred to in these verses are generally believed to be gospel times. Gospel blessings, temporal and spiritual, are promised to Jews AND Gentiles in the last days.


• And interestingly, the Elamites were among the first who heard the Gospel and accepted it ( Act 2:9 ).

So we find the whole reading today points to our Savior, the Christ who came to reconcile both Jews and Gentiles to God. His name isn't mentioned, there is no specific promise of a Messiah in these passages, but these prophecies point to His coming and the restoration He provided us with His shed blood on the cross.

Suddenly, a seemingly uninteresting passage takes on new light and becomes a beautiful love letter from God!









Tomorrow's passages: Jeremiah 51:15-58; 2 Chronicles 36:6-10; 2 Kings 24:10-17; 1 Chronicles 3:10-16; 2 Chronicles 36:11-14; Jeremiah 52:1-3; 2 Kings 24:18-20; Jeremiah 37:1-10. (I believe there's a typo on the reading plan ~ it shows 2 Chron. 3:6-10, but 36:6-10 makes much more sense.)

August 12th

Today's reading from the One Year Bible Chronological Reading Plan is Jeremiah 23:33-24:10, 29:1-31:14

I feel like my thoughts are going in two completely different directions in response to today's passage and I'm not sure where to go with that. So, I think I'm going to mention both of them, and try not to make this too long!

The first thing I noticed was the huge amount of hopeful verses given to the exiled people of Judah. I have noticed these verses before, and indeed, many of them are common memory verses. But what I have not noticed abuot these verses before is their context.

As we've discussed for a long time now, the people of Judah had basically sunk into such an evil depravity that God was finally punishing them with the consequences He had informed them of way back when they first entered the Promised Land. Things had finally got to the point where severe punishment was necessary - both simply for justifiable punishment reasons, and in an attempt to draw them back into a relationship with God once more. The people of Judah are finally conquered by the Babylonians (and seiges are none too pleasant!) and sent into exile (not a fun walk in the park either) and THAT is the context of these amazing verses of promise and hope....

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13

So you will be my people, and I will be your God. Jeremiah 30:22

"I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness. Jeremiah 31:3

and numerous verses that talk about God bringing His people back and restoring them. What beautiful hope-filled promises in the midst of such a difficult (though deserved!) time.

My next train of thought....
"Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it propsers, you too will prosper." Jeremiah 29:5-7
Obviously this was intended to let the exiles know that they were going to be in exile for a good while (not happy news for them) and contains great advice on how to deal with living in this city.

But I think it is equally applicable to us and our sojourn here on earth, in whatever city God has placed us in, while we wait to be brought out of exile and restored to God forever on the New Earth. Reread that passage, thinking of it in those terms. Does it make you passionate about being a light where you live?

Here is one sermon that discusses this idea a bit. A visiting preacher talked about this exact passage in our church about a year ago and I really appreciated that viewpoint on this passage, but I couldn't find a copy of that sermon.

Apparently I actually had 3 trains of thought, and here is the 3rd one...
"This is what the Lord says: " 'Your wound is incurable, your injury beyond healing. There is no one to plead your cause, no remedy for your sore, no healing for you.' " Jeremiah 30:12-13

What a great description of our eternal plight. Our wound is incurable. We have absolutely no cure for the disease of sin that will keep us separated from a holy God for all eternity. God did not have to save us. God did not have to provide a way to cure this disease. God was fully in His right to punish us eternally by separating us from Him forever in hell.

But (and never has the word "but" been so glorious!) He did anyway. Grace. Mercy. Sacrifice. Servanthood. Why? Because He loves us with an everlasting love. Completely undeserved mercy. Thank you Father!

Tomorrow's passage: Jeremiah 31:15-40, 49:34-51:14

August 11th

Today's reading from the One Year Bible Chronological Reading Plan is Jeremiah 49:1-33; 2 Kings 24:5-9; 2 Chronicles 36:6-9; Jeremiah 22:24-23:32.

You probably won't be able to guess what jumped out at me during today's passage.

Parenting.

Yup, probably not what you were expecting from today's passage. But hang in there and I'll explain.

One passage, and one verse in particular caught my eye...

"Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture!" declares the Lord. Therefore this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to the shepherds who tend myy people:"Because you have scattered my flock and driven them away and have not bestowed care on them, I will bestow punishment on you for the evil you have done," declares the Lord. "I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and will bring them back to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and increase in number. I will place shepherds over them who will tend them, and they will no longer be afraid or terrified, nor will any be missing," declares the Lord. Jeremiah 23:1-4

At first glance that doesn't appear to have anything to do with parenting. But hang in there....

My Life Application Bible has this to say about those verses (emphasis mine)....
Those responsible to lead Israel in God's path were the very ones responsible for Israel's present plight, and so God had decreed harsh judgment against them. Leaders are held responsible for those entrusted to their care. Whom has God placed in your care? Remember that you are accountable to God for those you influence and lead.

Now you see how I took that leap, right? As parents, God has placed our children in our care and we absolutely will be accountable for how we influence and lead them. We obviously cannot make our children have a deep and abiding relationship with God. They will be held accountable for their choice. But we will be held accountable for how we lead them to that relationship.

The other verse is....
"Let the prophet who has a dream tell his dream, but let the one who has my word speak it faithfully. For what has straw to do with grain?" declared the Lord. Jeremiah 23:28

Again, from my Life Application Bible (emphasis mine)....
True prophets and false prophets are as different as straw and grain. Straw is useless for food and cannot compare to nourishing grain. To share the gospel is a great responsibility because the way we present it and live it will encourage people either to accept it or reject it. Whether we speak from a pulpit, teach in a class, or share with friends, we are entrusted with accurately communicating and living out God's Word. As you share God's Word with friends and neighbors, they will look for its effectiveness in your life. Unless it has changed you, why should they let it change them? If you preach it, make sure you live it!

Nobody has a more front row seat than our children when it comes to the way we live our lives. They know if we are walking the talk, if we are living what we preach, and frankly, if we are preaching at all!

I recently read Gospel-Powered Parenting: How the Gospel Shapes and Transforms Parenting by William P Farley and am in the middle of reading Lous Priolo's Teach Them Diligently: How to Use the Scripture in Child Training and highly recommend both! They have definitely convicted me of several shortfalls in my parenting, two of which, fairly obviously (from the titles) are in the areas of imprinting the scriptures on their hearts (which obviously requires imprinting them on my own first!) and passing on a heritage of passion for God's Word. I am planning to review both books a bit more thoroughly on my regular blog, but for now, let me just say that they have made me look at parenting in a new light, from a new angle, in a new way and it has highly motivated and challenged me to be a better parent, more grounded in the gospel. (If you can only afford to get one, get the first one).

The bottom line is that we are accountable for sharing the gospel and living out the gospel to our children. It is not the job of our churches, our Sunday Schools, our Youth groups, our private schools, our pastors, our girls/boys clubs. It is our job. And we need to make it a priority.

Tomorrow's passage: Jeremiah 23:33-24:10, 29:1-31:14

August 10 - Miriam

Today's reading from the One Year Bible Chronological Reading Plan is Jeremiah 16-18 & 35.

There were a few things that stood out to me as I read the above chapters.  As I read the first chapter of today's reading, it talked about the Day of Disaster.  I cannot imagine a greater disaster than having God withdraw His blessing, love and pity from His people.  Jeremiah 16:6 - Both high and low will die in this land. They will not be buried or mourned, and no one will cut himself or shave his head for them.  I don't know about you, but I sometimes wonder how I will be remembered when I die, as I undoubtedly shall sooner or later.  But we all expect that someone, for at least some period of time, will remember us and think about us after we are gone.  It seems terribly sad and hopeless for someone not to be buried or mourned.  I realize that's only one very small part of the passage, but it made me feel some of the hopelessness and isolation of the curse being pronounced.

There was more talk in today's chapters about making our own gods - lifeless, worthless idols.  There was more about the society then that could just as easily describe our society today.  There was more about the consequences that they would suffer for not obeying God and following his laws. 

The verses that stood out to me most clearly from today's reading were Jeremiah 17:7-10 -

"But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
whose confidence is in him.
He will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit."
The heart is deceitful above all things
and beyond cure.
Who can understand it?
"I the LORD search the heart
and examine the mind,
to reward a man according to his conduct,
according to what his deeds deserve."

The human heart is beyond cure.  We've proven that time and again throughout the centuries.  We are faithless.  Easily swayed.  Easily distracted.  Easily convinced that because God is loving and merciful, that He couldn't possibly be vengeful and pronounce such dire judgment.  We want to believe that because no one is perfect and because our sins aren't, say, multiple murders or something we consider horrible and heinous, we're not bad people and we'll be okay, even if we don't REALLY follow God or seek His will.  But the Lord searches the heart and examines the mind.  He knows our motives and the reasons behind why we do and say certain things, even when we may not consciously recognize them ourselves.  And as we've discussed before, there are no degrees of sin.  All sin is equally destestable to God.  Any one sin by itself tips the scales and merits our eternal separation from Him.  And we all have plenty more than just one sin. 

But if we look back at the first part of that passage - Trust in the Lord. Be confident in Him. Send your roots out and drink up the waters of His Word. Thirst to know Him better.  Follow His will and trust in His timing.  Our rewards may not come when we'd like them to or when we feel we deserve them, but God will remember those who repent and are faithful.

Tomorrow's passage:  Jeremiah 49:1-33; 2 Kings 24:5-9; 2 Chronicles 36:6-9; Jeremiah 22:24-23:32.