I WILL NOT!
Opening Prayer
I come to You today, Prince of Peace, to find rest in You.
Read Jeremiah 6:16–20
16 This is what the Lord says:
“Stand at the crossroads and look;
ask for the ancient paths,
ask where the good way is, and walk in it,
and you will find rest for your souls.
But you said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
17 I appointed watchmen over you and said,
‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’
But you said, ‘We will not listen.’
18 Therefore hear, you nations;
you who are witnesses,
observe what will happen to them.
19 Hear, you earth:
I am bringing disaster on this people,
the fruit of their schemes,
because they have not listened to my words
and have rejected my law.
20 What do I care about incense from Sheba
or sweet calamus from a distant land?
Your burnt offerings are not acceptable;
your sacrifices do not please me.”
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28).In 627 B.C., when Jeremiah had been a prophet for five years, the Book of the Law was discovered in the Temple (2 Kings 22). This book was probably Deuteronomy, which, as we read here, repeatedly calls people to walk in God’s ways and not turn aside from his path. There are warnings aplenty too in Deuteronomy, not unlike the warning in these verses for unfaithfulness. In this context, the people’s stubbornness is all the more shocking—they will not listen to his Word (17) and they will not walk in his ways (16). All that the discovery of the Book of the Law and Josiah’s reforms served to do was to highlight just how far the people of Judah had fallen from God’s path. Yet they continued with their religious rituals (20).
It’s sobering to remember that we too can go through the motions of Christian worship and community, yet all the while our hearts are far from God and our lives are stained by areas of sin that are allowed free-reign.
Apply
Is there an area of your life that you know you should submit to God, but you persistently ignore the conviction of the Spirit? Do something about it now.
Closing prayer
Father, I surrender.
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