Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Jeremiah 8



Day 9:  Jeremiah 8:1-22

“When people fall down, do they not get up? When someone turns away, do they not return? Why then have these people turned away? Why does Jerusalem always turn away? They cling to deceit; they refuse to return” (Jeremiah 8:4-5, NIV).
 
Have you ever been driving and then realize you’re going in the wrong direction or you miss your turn? Most people will pull over and check their directions to make sure they know where they’re going or they’ll turn around so that they can get back onto the correct road.  Now let’s apply that to our relationship with Christ; when you realize you’re going in the wrong direction or you miss your turn because you didn’t take the route that God told you to, what do you do? So often people have a tendency to stay off track for a tad bit too long. The problem with going in the wrong direction and not realizing it or never getting back onto the right road is that you end up staying lost a lot longer than you really had to be. The longer that you are lost, the longer it takes for you to get to the destination that you were originally set out on. When we fail to return back to God after we sin we remain lost in the world way longer than we should be and in doing so we can get to a point where we become complacent with being lost. We get pulled further and further away from God and then we wonder why we have no desire to turn back. We think well things seem good right now so we’re okay; if something happens we’ll get back on track and go back to God. Why must we wait for an event to take place or something bad to happen before we return back to God? People think if God wanted me to change He would give me a sign but they fail to realize that His word, every scripture, is the sign. The book of Jeremiah in particular is a sign of the wrath of God when His people remain disobedient to Him.

You may read Jeremiah and think hey this is not me, I’m living for God and I’m doing it “right.” Then let your response be that of Jeremiah as He cries out to God for the sins of Judah (v. 18-22). God tells us to love one another and we cannot love one another and see our brothers and sisters going down the wrong path and dismiss it. I want to leave you with the note from my life application study bible for verses 20-22: “These words vividly portray Jeremiah’s emotion as he watched his people reject God He responded with anguish to a world dying in sin. We watch that same world dying in sin, still rejecting God. But how often is our heart broken for our lost friends and neighbors, our lost world? Only when we have Jeremiah’s kind of passionate concern will be moved to help. We must begin by asking God to break our hearts for the world He loves.” Lord break our hearts for what breaks Yours.


What verse spoke to you the most from this chapter? Be sure to share it to encourage someone else! Tag me so that I can share it as well (IG: @angel_cheron. Twitter: @angelcheron. Facebook: Angel Cheron and add #ChangedHearts #Jeremiah)

**Please note Changed Hearts: Matters of the Heart date was changed from April 5, 2014 to April 19, 2014 @ 10:00 a.m.** Changed Hearts: I AM Woman: Woman 2 Woman will still be April 12, 2014 @ 10:00 a.m.!


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