Theological Commentary: Click Here
Discipleship Focus: Character
- Character: Having the interior life that is necessary to support the work that God sets before a person. It is hearing from God and obeying. It is doing the right thing when nobody is looking.
I say
above that character is doing the right thing when nobody is looking. Here again we can hear God chastising the
Hebrew people for their behavior. They
are claiming to be in relationship with God but there is no substance to their
life. They love their own desires and
don’t really care that they are straying far from God’s path.
God then tells
Jeremiah to not pray for these people.
God tells Jeremiah to not lift up a cry for them. In other words, God is done with them. Of course, remember that God had Jeremiah
tell them only a few verses earlier that if they repent that God will forgive
them. Also remember that God has
promised to bring them back out of captivity.
So it isn’t so much that God is done with them as it is that God is
frustrated with them in the moment.
But if
you are Jeremiah, what do you do? God is
clearly frustrated. God clearly has a
plan. But these are people that you feel
called to love as well. What does a
person of impeccable character do? Love
the people God has called you to love or obediently listen to the voice of God?
I’m
reminder of another great leader in the Bible: Moses. When Moses was up on Mount Sinai and the
people built a golden calf, God came to Moses with a plan to smite the people
and start over. In Moses’ case, he
argues for the people and carries the day.
God relents and the people live – albeit wandering through the desert
for 40 years.
What do
you do if you are Jeremiah? What does
having good spiritual character mean in this circumstance?
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