February 17, 2015
Today’s reading from Encounter with God

Racing Men and Horses

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Opening Prayer

Mighty God, Your power is wondrous. You make newness, defeat death, and give life. I offer praise and worship to You.

Read Jeremiah 12:1-17

[1] You are always righteous, LORD, when I bring a case before you. Yet I would speak with you about your justice: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease? [2] You have planted them, and they have taken root; they grow and bear fruit. You are always on their lips but far from their hearts. [3] Yet you know me, LORD; you see me and test my thoughts about you. Drag them off like sheep to be butchered! Set them apart for the day of slaughter! [4] How long will the land lie parched and the grass in every field be withered? Because those who live in it are wicked, the animals and birds have perished. Moreover, the people are saying, “He will not see what happens to us.” [5] “If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in safe country, how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan? [6] Your relatives, members of your own family- even they have betrayed you; they have raised a loud cry against you. Do not trust them, though they speak well of you. [7] “I will forsake my house, abandon my inheritance; I will give the one I love into the hands of her enemies. [8] My inheritance has become to me like a lion in the forest. She roars at me; therefore I hate her. [9] Has not my inheritance become to me like a speckled bird of prey that other birds of prey surround and attack? Go and gather all the wild beasts; bring them to devour. [10] Many shepherds will ruin my vineyard and trample down my field; they will turn my pleasant field into a desolate wasteland. [11] It will be made a wasteland, parched and desolate before me; the whole land will be laid waste because there is no one who cares. [12] Over all the barren heights in the desert destroyers will swarm, for the sword of the LORD will devour from one end of the land to the other; no one will be safe. [13] They will sow wheat but reap thorns; they will wear themselves out but gain nothing. They will bear the shame of their harvest because of the LORD’s fierce anger.” [14] This is what the LORD says: “As for all my wicked neighbors who seize the inheritance I gave my people Israel, I will uproot them from their lands and I will uproot the people of Judah from among them. [15] But after I uproot them, I will again have compassion and will bring each of them back to their own inheritance and their own country. [16] And if they learn well the ways of my people and swear by my name, saying, ‘As surely as the LORD lives’-even as they once taught my people to swear by Baal-then they will be established among my people. [17] But if any nation does not listen, I will completely uproot and destroy it,” declares the LORD.

Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Reflect

“When God tells you he will walk through something with you it means you will have all you need–peace is there, strength is there, grace is there, love is there, because he is there” (Roy Lessin). This was a lesson Jeremiah had to learn and a lesson we need to learn.

It was no fun being a faithful prophet–Jeremiah was having a tough time. Not only were people ignoring him and his God-given message, but God himself did not seem to help. Why then were the wicked prospering? (1). Even the religious ones were insincere–having the right language but not the life (2). God’s apparent inaction led them to claim that God had gone blind and deaf (4), so they could live as they pleased. Jeremiah, appealing to God’s righteousness and justice (1), urges God to take action (3,4).

God replies that the prophet needs patient endurance. If he is out of breath racing footmen, how was he going to run with the horses (5)? Worse things are coming and he needs resilience. God reveals that Jeremiah’s own family was plotting against him (6). Jeremiah was to lean on God who has perfect resilience–that would one day “give the one I love” (Jesus) into the hands of enemies (7). God will go to any length to fulfill his purposes; he does not blink or hesitate and he knows what he is doing. He will judge the wicked. Judah and her neighbors will be disciplined.

God reveals his mercy even in judgment (Hab. 3:2). After being uprooted, the surrounding nations will receive compassion (15). Though they had taught God’s people the bad habits of idolatry, if they repent, they would receive God’s blessings (16). God’s apparent inaction today in the face of growing evil and ungodliness and the erosion of eternal truth and values should not be misunderstood as divine tolerance of evil or inability to act. God sees, hears and will act. In his delayed actions, we discern mercy (2 Pet. 3:9). We must not lose heart or hope–but faithfully pray to God who is righteous, just and merciful.

Apply

How would you describe your life: are you, “on foot…competing with horses” or are you, “…stumbling in safe country” (5)? How do you prepare for tough times? Are you preparing for tough times?

Closing prayer

God of all seasons, equip me with all I need for the ups and downs of life. May I learn the lessons I need to live joyfully for You.

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