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.
The Lord tells Jeremiah that the wicked appear to be prospering because the people have turned against Him. The apparent prosperity of the wicked is only a temporary thing while the Lord brings His full judgement to bear. The Lord is bringing His judgement against the people of Judah and against all of the wicked nations of the earth. But the time is coming when He will restore the people of Judah to His favor. When that happens(and with the death and resurrection of Christ, it has happened), He will give a place among them to the people of every nation who call upon Him. Jeremiah uses a rotting loincloth to illustrate the relationship between the people of Judah and God. Just as a loincloth is designed to cling to our bodies and be a source of pride (it is well made and decorated), so the people of Judah were designed to cling to God and be a source of pride to Him. Instead they sinned and sought after other gods, as a result they became useless like a rotting loincloth. The same is true of us today. We are to cling to God and allow Him to embroider us to be a source of His pride, but if we turn from Him and wallow in sin, we will be as a rotting loincloth.
We must put aside our pride and seek after the Lord before He punishes us for our sins. We must humble ourselves before Him and call on His Spirit to live within us because we are unable, by our own power, to stop sinning and do good.
Once again, Paul opens a letter by telling the recipients that he prays for them constantly. Could we do the same? Do we pray for our fellow believers regularly? Do we pray often enough that we could use the word “constantly” about anything we pray for? Paul praises the Thessalonians by telling them that wherever he goes, there are people telling him about the faith of the Thessalonians. Once again we need to ask ourselves, do people say the same sort of thing about the congregation we worship with? Do we serve the living and true God with such fervor that people distant from us have heard of it? Are we making it clear to those we meet that we are looking forward to Christ’s return?
We should declare the gospel boldly, even in the face of opposition. We should do so without deceit or trickery. We should seek to please God, not our fellow man.
God pours out His anger on His people when they turn from Him. But when they turn back to Him, He will restore them to Himself. When that day comes, He will pour out an even larger dose of His anger on those nations and people who looked at their suffering and used it as an excuse to deny God’s very existence. Let us praise God for the wonders He has performed.
It is easy to think that taking a little more time for myself can do no harm, but such is not always the case. It is all too easy to allow laziness to overcome our better sense and lead us into poverty. I know those who are workaholics, to whom this proverb would never apply, but I am not one of them. This proverb directly addresses my weaknesses. I must strive to always work hard because I, all too easily, can slip into laziness.