Weight of Sin

Reading: Jeremiah 50-52; Lamentations 1

My transgressions were bound into a yoke; by his hand they were fastened together; they were set upon my neck; he caused my strength to fail… (Lamentations 1:14)

If every sin weighed one gram, could you carry the weight of your transgression? Even at that ratio, a metric ton would not be an exaggeration. A gram is small, but no sin before God is a small thing.

Be thankful that the burden of your sin was laid on the shoulders of Jesus. Then appreciate His invitation: my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Praise God today for the strength of His grace.

Next Reading: Lamentations 2-5

Fear Not

Reading: Jeremiah 45-49

“Fear not, O Jacob my servant, declares the LORD, for I am with you. I will make a full end of all the nations to which I have driven you, but of you I will not make a full end. I will discipline you in just measure, and I will by no means leave you unpunished.” (Jeremiah 46:28)

What scares you? For the Jews, it was their enemies. Their fear was entirely justified; God had sent foreign nations to persecute and punish them. But God still cared for His people.

This is a comforting message: You don’t have to be afraid that God doesn’t love you. No matter what you have done, He still does and always will. Fear not.

Tomorrow’s Reading: Jeremiah 50-52; Lamentations 1

La, La, La!

Reading: Jeremiah 35-39

“I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, sending them persistently, saying, ‘Turn now every one of you from his evil way, and amend your deeds, and do not go after other gods to serve them, and then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to you and your fathers.’ But you did not incline your ear or listen to me.” (Jeremiah 35:15)

The people of God figuratively put their fingers in their ears and started singing, “La, la, la!” They just refused to listen. Even when the truth was screaming in their face, even when it was a matter of life and death, they would not listen.

Sometimes the truth is hard to hear. The truth might hurt, or maybe it just goes against what you want. One profound lesson from this reading in Jeremiah: Truth is truth, no matter who hears.

Dedicate yourself to hearing and sharing the truth of God today.

Next reading: Jeremiah 40-44

A New Covenant

Today’s Reading; Jeremiah 30-34

“I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” (Jeremiah 31:33-34)

This is the promise that God made concerning His people. The author of Hebrews quoted this passage as the promises made to the church. It is a covenant of faithfulness and forgiveness forever.

This passage is talking about you.

Next Reading: Jeremiah 35-39

Warning: Satan Lies

Reading: Jeremiah 25-29

And Jeremiah the prophet said to the prophet Hananiah, “Listen, Hananiah, the LORD has not sent you, and you have made this people trust in a lie. (Jeremiah 28:15)

When the false prophet spoke, even Jeremiah said, “Amen.” It wasn’t because he knew it to be true; the lie was just much more palatable than the truth. Though the truth can be a bitter taste, it is still the truth. Rather than hearing the truth, the people of Israel scarfed down sugarcoated poison.

Satan uses many mediums to spread his lies. Today, don’t listen to them. Take time to heed the truth of God’s inspired Scriptures.

Tomorrow’s Reading: Jeremiah 30-34

Back To Their Fold

Reading: Jeremiah 20-24

Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the LORD. (Jeremiah 23:3-4)

Famine, sword, pestilence and captivity are assured to God’s people because of their idolatry and corruption. God will not relent. Yet, amidst all the promises of judgment, promises of restoration prevail.

Both God’s judgment and His love are unrelenting.

Tomorrow’s Reading: Jeremiah 25-29

Forever Fire

Reading: Jeremiah 15-19

“For in my anger a fire is kindled that will burn forever.” (Jeremiah 15:14; 17:4, 27)

If you can imagine the expanse of eternity, and add fury, then you can see sin through God’s eyes. Forever is a long time. Three times Jeremiah tells the people that God’s anger won’t stop burning. These chapters show a glimpse of the damaging effects of sin.

I’ll take the alternative. I want to repent from my sin,serve God today and trust in His promises for forever pleasures.

Tomorrow’s Reading: Jeremiah 20-24

Walk His Way

Reading: Jeremiah 10-14

“I know, O Lord, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.” (Jeremiah 10:23)

Every day I am drawn to follow my own desires. If I follow them, where will they lead? They lead away from God and that’s nowhere that I want to be. Reading the prophecy of Jeremiah was a not so gentle nudge to evaluate the trajectory of my temptation.

Let this reading encourage you to walk His way all day.

Tomorrow’s Reading: Jeremiah 15-19

What Makes God Merciful?

Today’s reading is Isaiah 66; Jeremiah 1-4.

Jeremiah is tough on modern sensitivities, not fitting well with modern mainstream’s almost everything goes mentality. As it rebukes God’s children for exchanging their one God for multiple gods, abandoning His one way for their multiple ways, forsaking His one source for their multiple sources, modern “believers” want to consign this to the “Old Testament God” who was mean and tyrannical. “Aren’t we so fortunate that God became a Christian by the time we get to the New Testament and now He isn’t so strict?” But God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. What makes God merciful is not that He is happy with us doing whatever we think works. What makes Him merciful is this: “Return, faithless Israel, declares the LORD. I will not look on you in anger, for I am merciful, declares the LORD; I will not be angry forever. Only acknowledge your guilt, that you rebelled against the LORD your God and scattered your favors among the foreigners under every green tree, and that you have not obeyed my voice, declares the LORD” (Jeremiah 3:12-13, ESV). God’s mercy doesn’t mean we can walk in whatever way pleases us, it means when we have done that, we can turn back to Him and He will forgive and strengthen us. Praise God for His mercy!

Tomorrow’s reading is Jeremiah 5-9.