I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.  I just got back from a ten day vacation and prepared this before I left.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Jeremiah 13-15.

God told Jeremiah to stop praying for the people of Judah, that they were too far gone in their sin to return to God before they suffered His judgement.  Yet, Jeremiah still cried out for them and prayed to God.  He did so because their prophets were telling them that they were doing nothing wrong, that if they continued to follow the path which they were following God would send them peace.  Today we often see the same thing, false teachers proclaiming that God will send peace and prosperity to those who are sinning.  There are two types of such prophets: those who preach “prosperity gospel” and those who preach acceptance of self-destructive behavior.  The former teach that God will grant us material wealth.  The latter teach that we can do whatever we like as long as we are “loving”.  Neither group preaches God’s actual word.  Some know they are lying and some of them failed to heed what God told Jeremiah later on in this passage.

Jeremiah complains to God about the persecution he is suffering and begs God for deliverance.  God promises Jeremiah that He will indeed keep him safe.  God told Jeremiah to speak God’s good words rather than worthless ones of those around him.  In like manner we should seek to influence those who do not worship God (yet), but not allow them to influence us.  As Paul says in Romans 12, let us not copy the behaviors of this world but let us be transformed by the Holy Spirit into the likeness of God.