Deceived or Saved?
Read: Jeremiah 20:7-13 Praise the Lord! For he has delivered the life of the needy. (v. 13) In a 2011 stand-up routine, comedian Mike Birbiglia said, “To be a comedian you have to go on stage those first few years and bomb. If it weren’t for denial, you would just think, ‘Human beings don’t like […]
In the Potter’s Hands
Read: Jeremiah 18:1-11 Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will let you hear my words. (v. 2) Clay is a complex medium. One careless movement of the potter’s hand renders the vessel under formation unsightly or worthless. Clay is also very forgiving. Of course if the vessel becomes deformed, it […]
(Don’t) Follow Your Heart!
Read: Jeremiah 17:5-10 Even so will I spoil the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. (v. 9) Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. (v. 7 NIV) In 1862 in a letter to a friend, Emily Dickinson wrote, “The Heart wants what it wants.” However, […]
Lost Pride
Read: Jeremiah 13:1-11 Even so will I spoil the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. (v. 9) As a prophet, Jeremiah was called to speak prophetically. He was also called to act prophetically. God commanded Jeremiah to do things that made no sense to his audience, or even Jeremiah himself. In Jeremiah […]
Is There No Justice?
Read: Jeremiah 12:1-4, 14-17 You are always righteous, Lord . . . Yet I would speak with you about your justice. (v. 1 NIV) We live in an age of protest. When society’s mechanisms for protecting fairness and human dignity break down, the cry resounds: Is there no justice? We ask this question rhetorically. But […]
Bad News
Read: Jeremiah 10:17-22 A voice, a rumor! Behold, it comes! (v. 22) “Fake news” is a new expression. But fake news itself is nothing new. It was all the rage in Jerusalem in the sixth century BC. Jeremiah faced condemnation from city leaders and competition from false prophets. These “shepherds” (v. 21) spun their own […]
No Substitutes
Read: Jeremiah 10:1-7 There is none like you, O Lord. (v. 6) The film Citizen Kane opens with the death of its title character. Charles Foster Kane spent his life acquiring everything a person could want. Yet on his deathbed he only wants one thing: “Rosebud.” It turns out that one thing is not really […]
Crushed
Read: Jeremiah 8:18-22 Since my people are crushed, I am crushed. (v. 21 NIV) At the beginning of the pandemic, news broke in the United States that some civil servants were privately selling off stocks even while they publicly downplayed the magnitude of the impending crisis. Members of the public were outraged by the possibility […]
If Only . . .
Read: Jeremiah 7:1-8 Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place. (v. 3) The movie Leave No Trace is about a homeless father and daughter. The father, a veteran, suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. When he is offered a stable home, he rejects it in favor of life […]