Jeremiah 14:14

The LORD said: “These prophets are telling lies in my name. I did not send them or tell them to speak. I did not give them any messages. They prophesy of visions and revelations they have never seen or heard. They speak foolishness made up in their own lying hearts.”

Jeremiah had some very harsh things to say. He needed everyone to know that if they didn’t change their ways, they would receive God’s judgement. This was not what the people wanted to hear. They wanted prophets who would tell them that everything was fine and they had nothing to worry about. They wanted to listen to prophets who told them that because they had the temple of the Lord, nothing could possibly go wrong. Jeremiah continually battled with these false prophets, whose comforting words were simply wrong.

It is very easy for someone to make a statement adding the words “thus saith the Lord”, but did those words truly come from God? This has always been a challenge, and it was a particular problem in the early Church. When Paul wrote to Timothy, he warned that a time was coming when people would no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. “They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear” (2 Timothy 4:3). People love to hear soothing and comforting words, so we need to be on the alert. To use Paul’s words to the church in Thessalonica, we need to “test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21).

God will only ever speak words of love and truth, but because of his love for us, he will often say things that we find hard to hear. He may tell us that we need to completely change direction or give up habits that have become hardwired into our way of life. We would much rather listen to the people who tell us that we are wonderful and can stay just as we are, but God’s words are faithful. When we know that we are truly hearing from him, we need to make sure that we welcome his words and live by them.

Question

How do you check whether you are truly hearing words from God?

Prayer

Loving God, help us to listen carefully for your voice. Thank you that your words to us are always full of love. Amen

Jeremiah 13:16

Give glory to the LORD your God before it is too late. Acknowledge him before he brings darkness upon you, causing you to stumble and fall on the darkening mountains. For then, when you look for light, you will find only terrible darkness and gloom.

We are all good at putting things off. It might be filling in our tax returns, making things right with an aggrieved neighbour, buying Christmas presents or 1,001 other things. Jeremiah was desperately concerned that the people were putting off the most important thing of all: following the Lord. They were happy the way they were and had no intention of changing. The sad truth is that they never did change, and judgement fell upon them in the form of an invasion from Babylon under King Nebuchadnezzar.

The apostle Paul had exactly the same message for the church in Corinth. In 2 Corinthians 6:2, he declared: “Today is the day of salvation.” God calls us to follow him today and to live in the light of his salvation, and there will come a day when it is too late to receive it. For Jeremiah’s hearers, the day passed, and all they could do was stumble and fall down. When they looked for light, all they could find was darkness and gloom.

This is a tough message, but it’s a loving one too. If you have never accepted the free gift of new life in Christ, then today is the day when you need to respond. Tomorrow may never come. I know you’ve got lots of other things on, and it would seem more convenient to wait until you’ve got some free time, or the children are settled, or the extension is finished or you’ve got to the end of your course. However, today is the day of salvation, and you need to reach out and receive God’s gift. If you have already accepted Christ into your life, then today is the day to walk in obedience to him and follow him wherever he calls you to go.

Question

What is God calling you to do today?

Prayer

Lord God, I have decided not to put it off any longer. I gratefully accept your gift of life and ask that you will help me to live fully for you from this day onwards. Amen

Jeremiah 10:12-13

The LORD made the earth by his power, and he preserves it by his wisdom. With his own understanding he stretched out the heavens. When he speaks in the thunder, the heavens roar with rain. He causes the clouds to rise over the earth. He sends the lightning with the rain and releases the wind from his storehouses.

The fact that God created the world is the foundation of the Bible’s understanding of him. The first couple of chapters of Genesis tell us how God did this, and then the rest of the Bible points back to it. Here in Jeremiah, the prophet laughs at the uselessness of the idols that the people were worshipping. He highlights that, unlike the God of Israel, the idols have never created anything. They are a complete waste of time.

We need to make sure that our thinking about God is continually shaped by remembering he is our creator. Creation should be the springboard for our daily worship, and its vast scale surely makes us want to burst out in praise and adoration. Let’s stand back from our amazing universe for a moment. During the daytime we can’t see very far. The sun is merely 93 million miles from earth. It’s on our doorstep! The light of the sun only takes about eight minutes to reach us. At night, it is a very different story – we can see stars that are light years away from us.

Our closest star is Alpha Centauri which, at four light years away, is about 270,000 times further from us than the sun. However, all of this is still very close to home. Incredibly, even with the naked eye, it is possible to see Andromeda, which is 2.6 million light years away from us, and with a pair of binoculars, you can see stars that are as much as ten million light years away. These numbers are completely mind boggling, but they must encourage us to respond in worship to our great creator God.

Question

In what ways is your own worship inspired by creation?

Prayer

Lord God of Creation, as we look at the vastness of our universe, we fall down before you in worship and adoration. Amen

Jeremiah 10:2

This is what the LORD says: “Do not act like the other nations, who try to read their future in the stars. Do not be afraid of their predictions, even though other nations are terrified by them.”

If you’ve ever looked at a horoscope, you’ll probably have concluded that it is all a lot of nonsense. They may have told you that today is a good day to make friends, or to avoid puddles or to plan your holidays. However, horoscopes are nothing new. For more than 4,000 years, people have taken astrology very seriously and have developed sophisticated ways of reading the stars in order to guide their lives. In the time of Jeremiah, the Babylonians were particularly committed to this way of predicting the future, but the prophet was clear that this was no way to seek guidance. His confidence was in his God, and he refused to be swayed by astrology, however much others were influenced by it.

We are all immensely interested in the future. Inevitably, we wonder what is going to happen, but just imagine if you knew when and where you were going on holiday for the rest of your life, when you were going to fall ill or when you were going to die. I think most of us would rather not know the details. However, what we do need to know is that our future is secure in God’s hands, and that is precisely the security the psalmist celebrated when he wrote: “I am trusting you, O Lord, saying: ‘You are my God!’ My future is in your hands” (Psalm 31:14-15).

As we live for God today, we need to praise him for his continual presence with us, and for the sure knowledge we have that he will never leave our side, whatever the future holds.

Question

What are your thoughts about your future?

Prayer

Loving Father, I am content to know that my future is in your hands. Thank you that you will never leave my side. Amen

Jeremiah 9:23-24

The LORD says: “Don’t let the wise boast in their wisdom, or the powerful boast in their power, or the rich boast in their riches. But those who wish to boast should boast in this alone: that they truly know me and understand that I am the LORD.”

What are the things you boast about – the things that give you the most pride and pleasure? For many people, it’s their family, but for others it’s their education, their achievements, their influence or their wealth. Almost certainly, the answer is found in the things you are most keen to talk about when you have a chance! In these verses, God was not saying that wisdom, power and riches were bad. There is much that can be very good about all three, but they should never take pride of place in our lives. All three of them are of passing significance, but the Lord is different and our knowledge of him is something with enduring importance.

The Bible constantly invites us to reflect on our lives and the way that we think. Every day, we are under pressure from all directions. Our family, friends, work, church, hobbies and the media are all seeking to shape our thinking. Jeremiah’s desire was for the people to correctly order their thinking and put God first. Their refusal to do so was an agony for him because he knew the destructive consequences. He longed that they should start focusing their lives on God and bragging about him.

When the apostle Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, he spoke about how God turns all our human thinking upside down. Greek society was impressed by great wisdom, but God doesn’t work in that way. Paul reflected that there is no basis on which we can ever boast in the presence of God. Agreeing with the words from Jeremiah, he wrote: “If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:31).

Question

What are you most inclined to boast about?

Prayer

Loving Father, forgive me for those times when I boast about things of temporary importance. Teach me how to boast of what you have done. Amen

Jeremiah 8:21

I hurt with the hurt of my people. I mourn and am overcome with grief.

The power of Jeremiah’s prophecy lies in the fact that he didn’t stand at a distance from the people. Their hurts were his hurts, and he described himself as being heartbroken and having grief that was beyond healing (Jeremiah 8:18). He knew that they were suffering because they had abandoned God’s way and had found other gods. As a result, they were just about to be defeated by an enemy who would come from the north and overwhelm them.

Jeremiah was in such a state of distress that he cried out: “If only my head were a pool of water and my eyes a fountain of tears, I would weep day and night for all my people who have been slaughtered” (Jeremiah 9:1).

Leaders of God’s people should never stand at a distance from the people they are serving. If they are to be faithful to their calling, they will share the joys and the sorrows of the people among whom they minister. They will feel the pain of their failure and disobedience and long, with Jeremiah, that they will find forgiveness and restoration. The privilege of leading God’s people is enormous, but the weight of it is very great.

I am always a little anxious when people tell me that Christian leaders need to have a thick skin. If they mean that they need to be strong and resilient in the face of large pressures and difficulties, I agree. If they mean that Christian leaders need to be totally untouched and untroubled by the challenges they face, then I fundamentally disagree. Jeremiah entered fully into the tragic situation that faced him. The people rejected his message from God, and he felt the pain of that so profoundly that he was in a state of constant distress. We need to pray that Christian leaders will love people so much that they will fully identify with them in the way that Jeremiah did.

Question

How does the example of Jeremiah help you to pray for the Christian leaders you know?

Prayer

Loving God, we thank you for all Christian leaders. Help them to give their whole selves to the people they serve. Amen

Jeremiah 7:5-6

I will be merciful only if you stop your evil thoughts and deeds and start treating each other with justice; only if you stop exploiting foreigners, orphans, and widows; only if you stop your murdering; and only if you stop harming yourselves by worshiping idols.

Most of the time, we probably think of justice as being in the hands of other people. We look to the police and the law courts to handle issues of justice, and we wish them well as they do so. However, these verses make it clear that justice involves us all. We all need to think and to act justly, and that is a challenge every day of our lives. We have to continually make judgments about what is just, whether it’s in our family, business, school, college, church or sports club. God was clear that he would only be merciful to his people if they were willing to take their responsibility for justice seriously.

We live in a deeply unfair world. Although massive strides have been made in recent centuries, people still suffer because of their age, gender, ethnicity, poverty, appearance, disability or education. The whole Bible encourages us to look out for those who are vulnerable in our society, and, wherever we live, we won’t need to look far. It isn’t good enough to merely wish them well. We need to stand with them and explore ways in which they can be supported.

The Old Testament was particularly sensitive to the vulnerability of foreigners. Having lived in another country for a couple of years, I understand this, but my situation was not that of a refugee. I can’t imagine how awful it would be to be forcibly displaced from this country, but the United Nations high commissioner for refugees believes that there are more than 80 million people in that position. The number has doubled in the past ten years. We can’t change the world by ourselves, but we can reach out to those in our own communities who need our prayers, love and practical support.

Question

What can you do to promote justice in your own community?

Prayer

Loving God, forgive me for those times when I have left issues of justice to others, and haven’t been eager fight for it and protect the vulnerable people that I know. Amen

Jeremiah 6:16

This is what the LORD says: “Stop at the crossroads and look around. Ask for the old, godly way, and walk in it. Travel its path, and you will find rest for your souls.”

I struggle to remember the days before I used satellite navigation. However, I drove for many years before the luxury of these devices, and I would often come to a crossroads and wonder which way I needed to go next. I ministered in Devon for a number of years, and I frequently found myself travelling down beautiful country lanes and getting completely lost. Then, I would come to a crossroads, and I had to make a decision.

God spoke to his people and told them to do just that: stop and reflect on which way they needed to go next. They had the power to go whichever way they chose but he advised them to choose the old, godly way that God had shown them through Moses.

From time to time, we all face decisive moments. There will always be a range of options, but amid the clamour, we can hear the voice of Jesus saying: “Come follow me.” People have trodden this path for 2,000 years, but he calls us amid the cut and thrust of 21st-century life. The principles of following Jesus haven’t changed at all, and the outcome will be the same as it was for the people of Jeremiah’s day.

God invited them to travel on the old godly path, assuring them that they would find rest for their souls. Significantly, that’s exactly what Jesus promised as well. He said: “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). He promises us his peace and takes away from us the burden of anxiety and fear. When we are yoked to Jesus, the burden is always light.

Question

Which way will you go when you next face a crossroads in your life?

Prayer

Loving God, thank you that you invite me to follow you and that you promise me your gift of rest. Amen

Jeremiah 3:22

“My wayward children,” says the LORD: “come back to me, and I will heal your wayward hearts.”

Jeremiah went to great lengths to show just how far people had wandered away from God. He used incredibly strong language. He talked about them acting like a prostitute running after many lovers, and pictured them sitting by the road waiting for customers (Jeremiah 3:2). Israel had totally abandoned the one true God and had explored every other god on offer. But, amazingly, God hadn’t given up on them. He still reached out his hands of love and offered to welcome them home and heal their wayward hearts.

The lavish generosity of God’s forgiveness is a prominent theme throughout the Bible. Although humankind has repeatedly rebelled against him, he has always been ready to offer his welcome to all who will turn to him. The parable of the prodigal son is the most beautiful expression of God’s fatherly love (Luke 15:11-32). The son acted in a completely irresponsible way. It was bad enough that he asked for his inheritance before his father’s death, but things went from bad to much, much worse. Before too long, the money was gone and he was destitute. He knew that he had no right to ever be considered a son again, but he thought his generous father might be willing to employ him. Justice demanded that the father should punish his son severely for his appalling behaviour, but love took over. The father welcomed him home with outstretched arms, kisses, a new suit of clothes and a party. That’s our God!

It might be tempting when you read the parable of the prodigal son to imagine that it is only talking about someone else, but it isn’t. It’s talking about you and me. We have all sinned against God but, incredibly, he is willing to throw open his arms, welcome us home and lavish his forgiveness upon us.

Question

What does the parable of the prodigal son mean to you?

Prayer

Loving God, thank you for your amazing generosity and your willingness to welcome me back home. Amen

Jeremiah 2:13

[The Lord says:] “For my people have done two evil things: They have abandoned me— the fountain of living water. And they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns that can hold no water at all!”

In a country like Palestine, cisterns are a vital way of storing water for the long, hot and dry summers. The porous limestone rock needs to be lined with plaster in order to make them watertight. A cistern with a cracked lining is completely useless, and Jeremiah used this powerful image to tell the people that the gods they were worshipping were a complete waste of time. They could never satisfy their needs, unlike the fountain of living water that God offered to provide for them. This reminds us of Jesus’ encounter with the woman of Samaria (John 4). He offered her living water which could completely satisfy her deepest needs. She would never be thirsty again.

Our society is full of cracked cisterns. Each one offers the lure of possessions, philosophies and entertainments which have the power to entertain us for a while, but which can never ultimately satisfy us. They are not necessarily bad in themselves, but they have no power to give us the long-term satisfaction that we all crave.

The apostle Paul reflected on his own distinguished background. On the face of it, he had every advantage, but all of these things were just cracked cisterns for him, alongside the wonder of knowing Jesus. He concluded: “Everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as rubbish, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him” (Philippians 3:8-9).

Our job is clear. If we have found the life-giving water which Jesus brings, we need to do everything possible to point people to him, and to warn them not to waste their lives on things which will inevitably, sooner or later, prove to be cracked cisterns.

Question

What would you identify as the most popular cracked cisterns in the UK today?

Prayer

Loving God, I praise you because you are the fountain of living water. Help me to drink your life-giving water today and every day. Amen