Scripture Reading(s)
Jeremiah 14:7-10, 19-22
14:7 Although our iniquities testify against us, act, O LORD, for your name’s sake; our apostasies indeed are many, and we have sinned against you.
14:8 O hope of Israel, its savior in time of trouble, why should you be like a stranger in the land, like a traveler turning aside for the night?
14:9 Why should you be like someone confused, like a mighty warrior who cannot give help? Yet you, O LORD, are in the midst of us, and we are called by your name; do not forsake us!
14:10 Thus says the LORD concerning this people: Truly they have loved to wander, they have not restrained their feet; therefore the LORD does not accept them, now he will remember their iniquity and punish their sins.
14:19 Have you completely rejected Judah? Does your heart loathe Zion? Why have you struck us down so that there is no healing for us? We look for peace, but find no good; for a time of healing, but there is terror instead.
14:20 We acknowledge our wickedness, O LORD, the iniquity of our ancestors, for we have sinned against you.
14:21 Do not spurn us, for your name’s sake; do not dishonor your glorious throne; remember and do not break your covenant with us.
14:22 Can any idols of the nations bring rain? Or can the heavens give showers? Is it not you, O LORD our God? We set our hope on you, for it is you who do all this.
Reflections
How often whenever to fall into sin, do we end up falling on our knees crying out to God for forgiveness? This is a passage of one who is crying out to God to show His Grace despite the nations sin. There is a plea that even though there is a well deserved punishment, that God choose mercy instead.
Admitting that there is sin, is the first step that one has to take towards the path of repentance. When we acknowledge that we are in sin, it opens up a doorway to coming to God with a heart that is ready to confess and seek God’s hand of forgiveness. Repentance shows that we are admitting that we need God’s Grace and our prayers are shaped to be more genuine and honest about being lost without Him.
God came to this world to save us from our sins. He sent His son to pay the penalty for us and in turn gave us a new opportunity to have clean hearts and follow after Him in obedience and faith. God knows that we are prone to sin, however He does expect that our hearts are filled with the same grief that the nation of Israel felt when they were facing punishment. Israel not only understood that their sin deserved consequence but that it also broke the heart of God.
God has blessed the nation abundantly and He does so the same for us. Let us never forget all that God has done for us and let us strive hard to prayerfully ask that our hearts align with His. That our actions reflect Him and our words speak His love and truth. Seek Gods help each to pursue after Him and stand strong against the temptation to sin.
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