Jeremiah 25:4-5 - "Again and again,
the LORD has sent you his prophets, but you have not listened or even tried to
hear. Each time the message was this: 'Turn from the
evil road you are traveling and from the evil things you are doing. Only then
will I let you live in this land that the LORD gave to you and your ancestors
forever.
Jeremiah said what God told him to say for
23 years. The message was always the same….turn
from the evil they had fallen into and return whole heartedly to God. God even
sent other prophets too….but they never listened. So God was about to put them in captivity for
70 years.
It would be a time for them to relearn what
it meant to be a child of God. God would use this time of oppression to
strengthen and form the faith he needed them to have as his people. He would
use this time to teach them what being his child was really about.
70 years….7 decades….long enough for the
oldest to die and the youngest to grow into these adults places. Long enough for young men like Daniel to show
the king of Babylon just what following the rules of God would do to strengthen
the body mind and soul of those who worshiped him.
The strength of these young men under
Daniel’s leadership changed the nature of all the people. They learned to cling to God under bad circumstances….and
let God be the one in control. Because of Daniel’s faith…..mighty miracles were
once again shown to declare the power of God.
I need that kind of faith. I admit that I sure don’t have it….and don’t want
to be put in captivity for God to cultivate it in me. Perhaps if I look at
Daniels model of prayer…how Daniel cared for the health of his body….and
declare to use a stronger resolve to say no to the things I know will lead me
down the wrong path…God can make me as strong as this young man was.
Father…thank you for the reminder that I
need to cultivate a stronger faith in you.
Thank you for recording the stories of Jeremiah and Daniel to give me
great examples of perseverance and resolve. Forgive me for the times that I
have given up just before I got the lesson you needed me to get…and help me to
persevere till I have learned what you need me to learn. Help me love you so deeply that I can say no
to anything that might pull me away from that love. Amen.
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