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single saints

Jeremiah 16:1-4 (JDV)

Jeremiah 16:1 The word of Yahveh came to me, and this is what he said:

Jeremiah 16:2 “Do not take a wife for yourself or have sons or daughters in this place

Jeremiah 16:3 because this is what Yahveh says about sons and daughters born in this place and about the mothers who bear them and the fathers who father them in this land:

Jeremiah 16:4 They are going to die from deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried but will drop like excrement on the surface of the ground. They will be finished off by sword and famine. Their corpses will become food for the birds of the sky and for the wild animals of the land.

single saints

To add to the ever-growing list of Jeremiah’s troubles, God told him to stay single. No one is going to pay attention to an unmarried prophet. He might as well have painted “ignore me” on his forehead.

God had a very good reason for telling Jeremiah to go against the current and stay single – even in that culture. And God has reasons for people today to do the same. It is the church’s responsibility to affirm God’s choice for those who want to follow him, not to try to get them to conform to their own choices.

Lord, give us the wisdom to enjoy and affirm the single saints among us.