God' Prophets Demand Justice
Advocates of Justice for All
A Choice to Be Just
Jeremiah 18:11-17 The Message
11 “So, tell the people of Judah and citizens of Jerusalem my Message: ‘Danger! I’m shaping doom against you, laying plans against you. Turn back from your doomed way of life. Straighten out your lives.’12 “But they’ll just say, ‘Why should we? What’s the point? We’ll live just the way we’ve always lived, doom or no doom.’”
13-17 God’s Message:
“Ask around.
Survey the godless nations.
Has anyone heard the likes of this?
Virgin Israel has become a slut!
Does snow disappear from the Lebanon peaks?
Do alpine streams run dry?
But my people have left me
to worship the Big Lie.
They’ve gotten off the track,
the old, well-worn trail,
And now bushwhack through underbrush
in a tangle of roots and vines.
Their land’s going to end up a mess—
a fool’s memorial to be spit on.
Travelers passing through
will shake their heads in disbelief.
I’ll scatter my people before their enemies,
like autumn leaves in a high wind.
On their day of doom, they’ll stare at my back as I walk away,
catching not so much as a glimpse of my face.”
Survey the godless nations.
Has anyone heard the likes of this?
Virgin Israel has become a slut!
Does snow disappear from the Lebanon peaks?
Do alpine streams run dry?
But my people have left me
to worship the Big Lie.
They’ve gotten off the track,
the old, well-worn trail,
And now bushwhack through underbrush
in a tangle of roots and vines.
Their land’s going to end up a mess—
a fool’s memorial to be spit on.
Travelers passing through
will shake their heads in disbelief.
I’ll scatter my people before their enemies,
like autumn leaves in a high wind.
On their day of doom, they’ll stare at my back as I walk away,
catching not so much as a glimpse of my face.”
For Reflection
When it comes to God, why do people have "authority issues"? We seem to act like teenagers, naive to the consequence of our own action, demanding our independence. We do not realize that to be committed to God is the ultimate source of freedom. The relationships to God are filled with paradoxes. To be a slave to one's lusts is not freedom. Lusting for self-determination is doomed to failure. No one succeeds by one's self.
Pray
for those who mistakenly believe they can live life solely on their own terms. Pray for those, who by their own choices, run fool's errands endlessly, thinking the next time the result will be different. Pray for those who have rejected God's invitation to peace and security and are drowning in their own folly. Pray that you will accept God's grace and live in the hollow of God's hand.
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