August 12 - Jeremiah 17-19
The Lord inspired Jeremiah to use three word pictures to deliver His message in these three chapters we read for today. I believe they are powerful pictures that we need to consider.
In chapter 17 the Lord explains the difference between the person who trusts in Him and the one who does not trust in Him by using the illustration of two plants. The person who does not trust the Lord is like a shrub in the desert. Can you see the dry, shriveled bush that barely clings to life? It is the picture of a pained existence. The person who trusts God is pictured as a tree planted by the water like Psalm 1. Can you see the tall, green tree that is thriving, as it is full of fruit? That is a great picture of the difference between those who try to live in their own power and those who rely upon the power of God to give them victory in life.
In chapter 18 there is the story of the potter and the clay, which I am sure most of you have read before. Read it closely. The key to this picture seems to me to be the fact that the clay was marred in the hands of the potter, so he has to start over. Then, it speaks about the people repenting of sin, so God can forgive them. The picture is that we are all marred by sin, and we need the potter to remake us into something beautiful. God will only do that if we turn to Him in repentance and faith. If we don't, He will have to destroy us. Israel did not repent, so God had to destroy them and start over with a new lump of clay, which was a new generation after the Exile. What will we do today? Will we repent so God can remake us into something useful for Him? I hope we will.
Finally, in chapter 19 we see the word picture of the broken flask. Jeremiah was told by God to break the flask by the trash heap in front of the elders to make a point. If the people would not turn back to God, they would be broken beyond repair and buried in this place. Once the flask was broken, it could not be made perfect again, unlike the lump of new clay. Once we reject God, and He has to crush us, we will never be the same. If we turn back to Him, He can bless us again, but we have lost the opportunity for things to be the way God originally designed them to be. This lesson should make us think very seriously about the consequences of our sins and actions.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Jeremiah 20-22.
In chapter 17 the Lord explains the difference between the person who trusts in Him and the one who does not trust in Him by using the illustration of two plants. The person who does not trust the Lord is like a shrub in the desert. Can you see the dry, shriveled bush that barely clings to life? It is the picture of a pained existence. The person who trusts God is pictured as a tree planted by the water like Psalm 1. Can you see the tall, green tree that is thriving, as it is full of fruit? That is a great picture of the difference between those who try to live in their own power and those who rely upon the power of God to give them victory in life.
In chapter 18 there is the story of the potter and the clay, which I am sure most of you have read before. Read it closely. The key to this picture seems to me to be the fact that the clay was marred in the hands of the potter, so he has to start over. Then, it speaks about the people repenting of sin, so God can forgive them. The picture is that we are all marred by sin, and we need the potter to remake us into something beautiful. God will only do that if we turn to Him in repentance and faith. If we don't, He will have to destroy us. Israel did not repent, so God had to destroy them and start over with a new lump of clay, which was a new generation after the Exile. What will we do today? Will we repent so God can remake us into something useful for Him? I hope we will.
Finally, in chapter 19 we see the word picture of the broken flask. Jeremiah was told by God to break the flask by the trash heap in front of the elders to make a point. If the people would not turn back to God, they would be broken beyond repair and buried in this place. Once the flask was broken, it could not be made perfect again, unlike the lump of new clay. Once we reject God, and He has to crush us, we will never be the same. If we turn back to Him, He can bless us again, but we have lost the opportunity for things to be the way God originally designed them to be. This lesson should make us think very seriously about the consequences of our sins and actions.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Jeremiah 20-22.