Jeremiah 37:2-3 - 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, sent
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."
God had been telling them for a long time that the only way
to stop Babylon from taking over the city was to repent and begin to worship
him again. They had turned a deaf ear to
everything God had told them…and continued to do whatever they wanted. But when
things got really bad…they sent a message to Jeremiah to pray to God for them.
Jeremiah was told to tell the king that things had not
changed…and Babylon was still going to take over the city. Then he left Jerusalem to go visit some of
the tribe of Benjamin. The king called him a traitor…believing he was going to
go join the Babylonians. He refused to believe Jeremiah and had him thrown in a
dark dungeon under an official’s house.
Even in the dungeon…the king continued to ask Jeremiah in
private….what God’s new messages might be. But Jeremiah still told the truth…knowing
that he might end up being thrown back in the terrible dungeon.
The king in the story reminds me of how I get
sometimes. My selfish nature takes over…my
Bible study time shortens…life distracts me from taking time to really pray in
a focused way about anything other than what is brought to my attention that
day. I let life make more of my decisions than I do God…and when I finally
realize how long it’s been since I had had a good …long….talk with God….things
have gotten a bit out of control.
We want all of God’s blessings…but we don’t always want to
do anything to have them. We conjure up in our heads that following his
complete will is crazy…or radical….or too much work. Instead of using faith to
just go ahead and do what God has told us is right…we let life direct us to
long in the wrong direction.
I am realizing that it takes more strength and energy to turn
around and fix the mistakes I made than to have just gone ahead and done it the
way God wanted in the first place. How many times have I made God gently shake
his head at my disbelief…and ignored his words that I need more faith. I need
to be more like Daniel….the boy he raises up later in this story. God told him in Daniel 10:12… “Then he
continued, "Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set
your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your
words were heard, and I have come in response to them.” God is right beside me…he
has been there since the day I asked him to live in my heart. He has a plan…and
I keep messing it up. I need to just let
go and let him do what he needs to do…so he doesn’t have to keep forgiving me for
messing it up.
Father…thank you for reminding me that I need to be more
consistent in my relationship with you. Forgive me for letting life unfocus my
heart and mind off of your purposes and plan for me. Help me to find a way to
let you direct my ways more than the worries of the day I experience. Show me
how to use my time more wisely to search for you and do the things you have planned
for me to do to help others. Take me deeper into your word than ever before…and
let my prayers take longer and be more focused on asking you to intercede for the needs of others
around me. Amen.
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