I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.
Jeremiah tells us that the people of Judah were clever at doing wrong, but had no idea how to do right. He speaks of the destruction that God was planning against Judah and Jerusalem because of the people’s sin. Then he speaks of searching Jerusalem for an honest person. He tells us that even under oath to the Lord the people lied. Jeremiah suggests that one might expect no better of the poor, then he tells us that even the leaders of the people and the wealthy are dishonest. God gave them more than enough food and plenty of wealth and in response they turned to idolatry and to sexual sins.
I read this and it reminded me of the rise of the middle class in the late 19th and early 20th Century. That transition occurred, to a large extent, as a result of well-to-do Christians teaching the poor to live godly lives. Teaching them to not to spend all of their money and time in drunken debauchery. The poor were taught to emulate the social mores and cultural standards of the well-to-do, who were frequently Christian (and when they weren’t, aped Christian morals). Today, our well-to-do emulate the social mores and cultural standards of the poor.
Jeremiah tells the people of Judah that the wicked have become wealthy and set traps for people. Those with power refuse to provide justice to orphans and deny the rights of the poor. Those who should be messengers for the Lord give false prophecies and use their position for selfish ends. Worse than that, the people like it that way. That sounds much like the people of America today to me. We, as Christians, need to call on people to receive the Holy Spirit and change their lives. We have gotten caught up in the fighting over political power when we should be calling people to the Lord for the transformation of their hearts.
Once we were alienated from God, enemies of His in our minds. Now we have been reconciled to Him through the death of Christ. We must stand firmly in our faith in this transformation. God’s message was kept secret throughout history preceding Christ’s life, but now it has been revealed. That secret is Christ living within those who put their faith in Him. Let us work and struggle, as Paul did, to spread God’s warning and wisdom to everyone, so that they may also come to a faith in Him and the transformation that flows from that faith. We should pray and work so that believers everywhere will be knit together with bonds of love. I desire that no one be deceived by well-crafted arguments but that they maintain their faith in the Gospel of Christ. WE must continue to follow Jesus and let our roots grow down into Him. We should build our lives on Him and not allow faith in anything else challenge our loyalty to doing His will.
The psalmist expresses his feelings that God is not listening, but then he looks back at what God has done and expresses his faith that God will not abandon those who turn to Him. We, also, need to remember that God will act according to His plans and in His time. We need to have faith that God has a plan for us, even when He does not seem to hear our cries.
Showing favoritism when passing judgement is wrong. Judges and peoples who let the guilty go free will be cursed, while those who punish the wicked will be blessed.