Theological Commentary: Click Here
Discipleship Focus: In
- In: This is the word we use to express our relationships with our spiritual family. These are often the people who hold us spiritually accountable. They are the ones to whom we typically go for discussion and discernment. These are the ones with whom we learn to share leadership. They are the ones with whom we become family on mission.
The
opening of this chapter is much like we’ve encountered in other chapters of
Jeremiah. Jeremiah speaks about how the
Lord seems distant from the Hebrew people.
God’s response is typical of God’s responses in other places. God tells Jeremiah that it is the people who
have wandered from Him, not He who has wandered from the people. God is willing to let us wander. After all, is there any place we can go from
which He cannot reach us? However, when
we are distant from God we need to remember that it is we who wandered.
So how
does this bring us to the topic of In?
If we look into the second section of this chapter we get an opportunity
to hear Jeremiah talk about how the prophets are announcing news contrary to
Jeremiah. The prophets are announcing
that there will be peace, not a sword.
The prophets are announcing that God will not bring judgment. The prophets are encouraging people to live
their lives as they see fit rather than warning them of the judgment to
come. The prophets are encouraging
rampant humanism rather than drawing the people closer to God.
Fundamentally,
this is a problem of In. We need to be
careful about to whom we listen. If we
want to be godly, we need to make sure that when we seek advice it is from godly
people. If we do not get sound godly
advice, then we will wander away from God.
If we do not get sound godly instruction then we will pursue the desires
of our own heart.
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