Devotions

rejected silver

Posted on October 8, 2020 by Jefferson Vann

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rejected silver

Jeremiah 6:22-30 (JDV)

Jeremiah 6:22 This is what Yahveh says: Notice, a people will come from a northern land; a large nation will be stirred up from the remote regions of the land.

Jeremiah 6:23 They grasp bow and javelin. They are cruel and show no mercy. Their voice roars like the sea, and they ride on horses, lined up like men in battle formation against you, Daughter Zion.

Jeremiah 6:24 We have heard about it, and our hands hang limp. We have lost our battle strength—pain, like a woman in labor.

Jeremiah 6:25 Don’t go out to the countryside; don’t walk on the road, because the enemy has a sword; terror surrounds us.

Jeremiah 6:26 My dear people, dress yourselves in sackcloth and roll in the dust. Mourn as you would for an only son, a bitter lament, for suddenly the destroyer will come on us.

Jeremiah 6:27 I have appointed you to be a metal assayer among my people – a refiner — so you may know and assay their way of life.

Jeremiah 6:28 They are all stubborn rebels spreading slander. They are bronze and iron; all of them are corrupt.

Jeremiah 6:29 The bellows blow, blasting the lead with fire. The refining is completely in vain; the evil ones are not separated out.

Jeremiah 6:30 They are called rejected silver, because Yahveh has rejected them.

rejected silver

The idea of rejected silver is that it was intended to be refined and then enjoyed as a treasure. But Jeremiah does not hold out hope for that. Instead, the refining process is completely in vain. The corruption is not separated out. You would think that the great enemy from the north would have done that. But it will take the great Friend from heaven to do it.

There is still hope for Israel, just like there is hope for you and me. But that hope is only in Christ.

Lord, refine us, make us vessels of pure silver, treasures for your sanctuary.

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incense and sweet cane

Posted on October 7, 2020 by Jefferson Vann

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incense and sweet cane

Jeremiah 6:16-21 (JDV)

Jeremiah 6:16 This is what Yahveh says: Stand by the crossroads and look. Ask about the path of long ago, “Which is the way to the good path?” Then take it and find rest for yourselves. But they protested, “We won’t!”

Jeremiah 6:17 I appointed watchmen over you and said, “Listen to the sound of the ram’s horn.” But they protested, “We won’t listen!”

Jeremiah 6:18 Therefore listen, you nations and you witnesses, learn what the charge is against them.

Jeremiah 6:19 Listen, land! Notice I am about to bring disaster on these people, the fruit of their own plotting, because they have paid no attention to my word. They have rejected my instruction.

Jeremiah 6:20 What purpose to me is frankincense from Sheba or sweet cane from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable; your sacrifices do not please me.

Jeremiah 6:21 Therefore, this is what Yahveh says: Notice, I am going to place stumbling blocks before these people; fathers and sons together will stumble over them; friends and neighbors will also be destroyed.

incense and sweet cane

Jeremiah’s people thought that they could ignore what God had told them to do as long as they kept up the sacrifice rituals, and spent a little on high quality supplies for the temple. But those items of worship are useless if you have broken covenant with the one you claim to worship.

Even today, people try to buy off the God they have otherwise ignored. It does not work out any better today than it did then.

Seek the Lord while he is offering himself to be found. There will come a day when you might want to follow his path, and there will be nothing but stumbling blocks in your way.

Lord, forgive us for all those times we have refused to listen. We want to follow your path – the good path.

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underkill

Posted on October 6, 2020 by Jefferson Vann

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underkill

Jeremiah 6:10-15 (JDV)

Jeremiah 6:10 Who can I speak to and give such a warning that they would listen? Notice, their ear is uncircumcised, so they cannot pay attention. Notice, the word of Yahveh has become contemptible to them—they do not treasure it.

Jeremiah 6:11 And I am full of Yahveh’s wrath; I am tired of holding it back. Pour it out on the children in the street, on the gathering of young men as well. You see, both husband and wife will be captured, the old with the very old.

Jeremiah 6:12 Their houses will be turned over to others, their fields and wives as well, because I will stretch out my hand against the inhabitants of the land. This is what Yahveh declares.

Jeremiah 6:13 You see, from the least to the greatest of them, everyone is making profit dishonestly. From prophet to priest, everyone deals falsely.

Jeremiah 6:14 They have treated my people’s brokenness superficially, claiming, “Peace, peace,” when there is no peace.

Jeremiah 6:15 Were they ashamed because of this repulsive behavior? They weren’t at all ashamed. They can no longer feel humiliation. Therefore, they will fall among the fallen. When I visit them, they will collapse, says Yahveh.

underkill

Long distance hiking is my sport of choice. Anyone who knows my wife and me is aware of that. A few years ago, after I completed a long stretch on the Appalachian Trail – over a thousand miles – I had a serious knee problem. Because my physician at the Veteran’s Administration health facility wanted me to stay off my knee for a while and give it a rest, I left the clinic with a pair of crutches. I hadn’t broken anything, so I didn’t really need crutches. It was overkill. I didn’t use them for long, because it was ridiculous. As soon as I could handle the weight on my knee, I stopped using the crutches.

Looking back on that, I am happy for my doctor’s treatment, because I would rather overtreat a problem than undertreat it, so that it gets worse.

That is what Jeremiah’s people were doing. They were ignoring their problem as if it didn’t exist. They were engaging in underkill. God could not let their rebellion and corruption continue. He had to send the invasion.

Lord, we ask you to search us and find every evil way that does not conform to your will, and heal us. Lead us to true spiritual health and wholeness.

Posted in hypocrisy, neglect, pride, rebellion, resistance | Tagged Jeremiah 6 | Leave a comment

picked clean

Posted on October 5, 2020 by Jefferson Vann

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picked clean

Jeremiah 6:1-9 (JDV)

Jeremiah 6:1 “Run for safety out of the belly of Jerusalem, sons of Benjamin. Sound the ram’s horn in Tekoa; raise a smoke signal over Beth-haccherem, because disaster looks down from the north, even a severe fracture.

Jeremiah 6:2 Though she is beautiful and delicate, I have cut off Daughter Zion.

Jeremiah 6:3 Shepherds and their flocks will come against her; they will pitch their tents all around her. Each will pasture his own portion.

Jeremiah 6:4 Commit them for war against her; rise up, let’s attack at noon. Tragedy for us, because the day is passing; the evening shadows grow long.

Jeremiah 6:5 Rise up, let’s attack by night. Let us destroy her fortresses.”

Jeremiah 6:6 You see, this is what Yahveh of Armies says: Cut down the trees; raise a siege ramp against Jerusalem. This city must be punished. There is nothing but oppression within her.

Jeremiah 6:7 As a well gushes out its water, so she pours out her evil. Violence and destruction resound in her. Sickness and wounds keep coming to my attention.

Jeremiah 6:8 Be corrected, Jerusalem, or I will turn away from you; I will make you a desolation, a land without inhabitants.

Jeremiah 6:9 This is what Yahveh of Armies says: Glean the remainder of Israel as thoroughly as a vine. Pass your hand once more like a grape gatherer over the branches.

picked clean

It takes a lot of grapes to make wine, so the pickers will go over the vine more than once, to make sure that all the fruit is harvested. Go out and look at a vineyard after harvest, and you will not find anything left. It will be picked clean.

The Lord spoke through Jeremiah to the nations which would harvest his people. He told them to glean the remainder of Israel as thoroughly as a vine, passing their hand once more as a grape gatherer over the branches.

When judgment from God comes, he will miss nothing. He will pick clean every living thing, and leave an empty vine.

Jesus talks about his final judgment as a great harvest, in which the good fruit is retrieved, and all the rest is destroyed. The final punishment of hell will leave nothing behind to punish. Instead, Jesus warns us to fear him who is able to destroy soul and body in hell.

Lord, make us a people fruitful for your kingdom, because only your fruit will remain forever.

Posted in destruction in hell, judgment | Tagged Jeremiah 6 | Leave a comment

walking in the wrong direction

Posted on October 4, 2020 by Jefferson Vann

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walking in the wrong direction

Jeremiah 5:20-31 (JDV)

Jeremiah 5:20 “Declare this in the house of Jacob; proclaim it in Judah, saying:

Jeremiah 5:21 Hear this, you foolish and senseless people. They have eyes, but they don’t see. They have ears, but they don’t hear.

Jeremiah 5:22 Do you not fear me? this is what Yahveh declares. Do you not tremble before me, the one who set the sand as the boundary of the sea, a permanent barrier that it cannot cross? The waves surge, but they cannot prevail. They roar but cannot pass over it.

Jeremiah 5:23 But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts. They have turned aside and have gone away.

Jeremiah 5:24 They have not said to themselves, ‘Let’s fear Yahveh our God, who gives the seasonal rains, both autumn and spring, who guarantees to us the fixed weeks of the harvest.’

Jeremiah 5:25 Your violations have diverted these things from you. Your failures [1] have withheld my bounty from you,

Jeremiah 5:26 because wicked men live among my people. They watch like hunters lying in wait. They set a trap; they catch men.

Jeremiah 5:27 Like a cage full of birds, so their houses are full of deceit. Therefore they have grown powerful and rich.

Jeremiah 5:28 They have become fat and sleek. They have also excelled in evil matters. They have not taken up cases, such as the case of the fatherless, so they might prosper, and they have not defended the rights of the needy.

Jeremiah 5:29 Should I not punish them for these things? this is what Yahveh declares. Should I not avenge myself on such a nation as this?

Jeremiah 5:30 An appalling, horrible thing has taken place in the land.

Jeremiah 5:31 The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority. My people love it like this. But what will you do at the end of it?

walking in the wrong direction

I have an extreme supernatural gift of getting lost wherever I go. It is something that I can depend on. If I am faced with two roads to take, I will inevitably chose the wrong one.

Knowing this about myself, I rarely put myself in a situation where I make the choice of which direction to go. It would not make sense for me to usurp my own authority and decide such things, knowing my propensity to judge poorly.

Jeremiah was speaking to a people who also had a record of going in the wrong direction. The unfortunate thing is that his people loved it like that. So, Jeremiah challenged them to think about the consequence of living their lives apart from God’s corrective instruction. If they kept walking in the wrong direction, they would eventually come to a place where even God could not rescue them. Hell is such a place.

Lord, give us the wisdom to pay attention to your word, and carefully follow your Son.

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1 חַטָּאת = failure. Jeremiah 5:25; 14:10; 15:13; 16:10, 18; 17:1, 3; 18:23; 30:14-15; 31:34; 36:3; 50:20.

Posted in discernment, discipleship, guidance, obedience | Tagged Jeremiah 5 | Leave a comment

freedom from God

Posted on October 3, 2020 by Jefferson Vann

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freedom from God

Jeremiah 5:1-19 (JDV)

Jeremiah 5:1 Roam through the streets of Jerusalem. Investigate; search in her squares. If you find one person, any who acts justly, who pursues faithfulness, then I will forgive her.

Jeremiah 5:2 Even when they say, “As Yahveh lives,” they are swearing falsely.

Jeremiah 5:3 Lord, don’t your eyes look for faithfulness? You have struck them, but they felt no pain. You finished them off, but they refused to accept discipline. They made their faces harder than rock, and they refused to return.

Jeremiah 5:4 Then I thought: They are just the poor; they have been foolish, because they don’t understand the way of Yahveh, the justice of their God.

Jeremiah 5:5 I will go to the powerful and speak to them. Surely they know the way of Yahveh, the justice of their God. However, these also had broken the yoke and torn off the chains.

Jeremiah 5:6 Therefore, from the forest a lion will strike them down. From arid plains a wolf will ravage them. In their cities a leopard stalks. Anyone who leaves them will be torn to pieces because their revolts are many, their rebellious deeds numerous.

Jeremiah 5:7 Why should I forgive you? Your children have abandoned me and sworn by those who are not gods. I satisfied their needs, yet they committed adultery; they gashed themselves at the prostitute’s house.

Jeremiah 5:8 They are well-fed, eager stallions, each neighing after someone else’s wife.

Jeremiah 5:9 Should I not punish them for these things? This is what Yahveh declares. Should I not avenge myself on such a nation as this?

Jeremiah 5:10 Go up among her vineyard terraces and destroy them, but do not finish them off. Prune away her shoots, because they do not belong to Yahveh.

Jeremiah 5:11 They, the house of Israel and the house of Judah, have extremely betrayed me. This is what Yahveh declares.

Jeremiah 5:12 They have contradicted Yahveh and insisted, “It won’t happen. Harm won’t come to us; we won’t see sword or famine.”

Jeremiah 5:13 The prophets become only breath, for Yahveh’s word is not in them. This will in fact happen to them.

Jeremiah 5:14 Therefore, this is what Yahveh God of Armies says: Because you have spoken this word, notice, I am going to make my words become fire in your mouth. These people are the wood, and the fire will consume them.

Jeremiah 5:15 Notice I am about to bring a nation from far away against you, house of Israel. This is what Yahveh declares. It is an established nation, a nation from long ago, a nation whose language you do not know and whose speech you do not understand.

Jeremiah 5:16 Their quiver is like an open grave; they are all warriors.

Jeremiah 5:17 They will consume your harvest and your food. They will consume your sons and your daughters. They will consume your flocks and your herds. They will consume your vines and your fig trees. With the sword they will destroy your fortified cities in which you trust.

Jeremiah 5:18 “But even in those days”– this is what Yahveh declares — “I will not finish you off.

Jeremiah 5:19 When people ask, ‘For what offense has Yahveh our God done all these things to us? ‘ You will respond to them, ‘Just like you abandoned me and served foreign gods in your land, that is how you will serve strangers in a land that is not yours.’

freedom from God

Jeremiah thought he had found the reason for the rampant unfaithfulness of his people. He reckoned that he was only sampling a portion of the populace. He thought the reason there was so much disobedience and rebellion was that he was only looking among the poor and uneducated.

Then, he looked at the wealthy and sophisticated. He discovered that they too had “broken the yoke and torn off the chains.” The whole nation had set themselves free from God. And what a freedom it turned out to be. War, destruction, exile and bondage awaited them as a price for abandoning the God who had redeemed them.

All around me, I see the same thing Jeremiah saw. I see nations who were born from God, seeking to be unhindered by corruption and tyranny. But these same nations are now flagrantly boasting of their freedom from God. It is with pain and sorrow that I predict these nations are heading to the same place that Israel and Judah went. They were swallowed up by the nations around them. They wanted freedom from God, and God gave them what they wanted.

Lord, if by your mercy you can rescue a remnant from among us, please help us to be a part of that remnant. And help us to draw as many as we can to your ark of safety before the flood comes.

Posted in faithfulness, freedom, idolatry, judgment | Tagged Jeremiah 5 | Leave a comment

denial in a red dress

Posted on October 2, 2020 by Jefferson Vann

women s red scoop neck long sleeved dress

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denial in a red dress

Jeremiah 4:23-31 (JDV)

Jeremiah 4:23 I looked at the land, and noticed it was formless and empty. And into the sky, and there were no lights.

Jeremiah 4:24 I looked at the mountains, and noticed they were quaking; all the hills had been shaken loose.

Jeremiah 4:25 I looked, and noticed there was no human being, and all the birds of the sky had fled.

Jeremiah 4:26 I looked, and noticed the fertile field was an open country. All its cities were broken up because of Yahveh and his burning anger.

Jeremiah 4:27 You see, this is what Yahveh says: The whole land will be a desolation, but I will not finish it off.

Jeremiah 4:28 Because of this, the land will mourn; the skies above will grow dark. I have spoken; I have planned, and I will not relent or turn back from it.

Jeremiah 4:29 Every city runs away at the sound of the horseman and the archer. They enter the bushes and climb among the rocks. Every city is abandoned; no inhabitant is left.

Jeremiah 4:30 And you, devastated one, what are you doing that you dress yourself in scarlet, that you furnish¹ yourself with gold jewelry, that you enhance your eyes with makeup? You beautify yourself for nothing. Your lovers reject you; they seek to cut your throat.

Jeremiah 4:31 I hear a cry like a woman in labor, a cry of anguish like one bearing her first child. The cry of Daughter Zion gasping for breath, stretching out her hands: “Tragedy has come to me, because my throat is exhausted because of the murderers!”

denial in a red dress

The prophet sees the impending destruction coming upon God’s people. He sees the soldiers and archers killing. He sees the land laid waste, and the people all running away to hide from the onslaught. But then he sees something incongruous. There is his nation, dressed in a slick red dress, decked out in makeup and jewels. She is dressed to impress as before, yet there is nobody left to impress. All her former boyfriends now want to cut her throat.

It is human nature, when faced with a tragic situation, to try to pretend it isn’t happening. It is pathetic – really, but that is what we do. Jeremiah faced a nation in denial, strutting around in its finest, hoping nobody will notice what a shambles it was in.

Lord, we come to you as we are today. No need to impress anyone that we are better. We need you, or we are lost. Come Lord Jesus.

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¹ עָדָה = furnish. Jeremiah 4:30; 31:4.

Posted in dependence upon God, shame, sin | Tagged Jeremiah 4 | Leave a comment

pain in his heart

Posted on October 1, 2020 by Jefferson Vann

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pain in his heart

Jeremiah 4:19-22 (JDV)

Jeremiah 4:19 My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in agony! Oh, the pain in my heart! My heart pounds; I cannot be silent, because you, my throat, have heard the sound of the ram’s horn – the shout of battle.

Jeremiah 4:20 Disaster after disaster is reported because the whole land is destroyed. Suddenly my tents are destroyed, my tent curtains, in a moment.

Jeremiah 4:21 How long must I see the signal flag and hear the sound of the ram’s horn?

Jeremiah 4:22 “You see, my people are fools; they do not know me. They are foolish children, without understanding. They are skilled in doing what is evil, but they do not know how to do what is good.”

pain in his heart

God speaks to the prophet and tells him how he sees things. He feels pain in his heart. He knows the disaster after disaster that is ripping apart his nation the way soldiers would rip apart a tent. He sees the destruction, and hears the sounds of battle.

But he has to send the battle. He has to send the disaster because his own people keep acting like fools, skilled in nothing but evil.

The Lord knows the evil that we do, and it breaks his heart. He knows the consequences we must face, and he longs for us to change, so that we can avert the coming disasters.

Lord, change our hearts, so that we can stop breaking yours.

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wholehearted surrender

Posted on September 30, 2020 by Jefferson Vann

silhouette photo of man leaning on heart shaped tree

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wholehearted surrender

Jeremiah 4:3-18 (JDV)

Jeremiah 4:3 You see, this is what Yahveh says to the men of Judah and Jerusalem: Break up the unplowed ground; do not sow among the thorns.

Jeremiah 4:4 Circumcise yourselves to Yahveh; remove the foreskin of your hearts, men of Judah and residents of Jerusalem. Otherwise, my wrath will break out like fire and burn with no one to extinguish it because of your evil deeds.

Jeremiah 4:5 Declare in Judah, proclaim in Jerusalem, and say: Blow the ram’s horn throughout the land. Cry out loudly and say: Assemble yourselves, and let’s flee to the fortified cities.

Jeremiah 4:6 Lift up a signal flag toward Zion. Run for cover! Don’t stand still! For I am bringing disaster from the north – a crushing blow.

Jeremiah 4:7 A lion has gone up from his thicket; a destroyer of nations has set out. He has left his lair to make your land a waste. Your cities will be reduced to uninhabited ruins.

Jeremiah 4:8 Because of this, put on sackcloth; mourn and wail, for Yahveh’s burning anger has not turned away from us.

Jeremiah 4:9 “On that day” – this is what Yahveh declares – “the king and the officials will lose their courage. The priests will tremble in fear, and the prophets will be scared speechless.”

Jeremiah 4:10 I said, “Oh no, Lord Yahveh, you have certainly deceived this people and Jerusalem, by announcing, ‘You will have peace,’ while a sword is at our throats.”

Jeremiah 4:11 “At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, ‘A searing wind blows from the barren heights in the open country on the way to my dear people. It comes not to winnow or to sift;

Jeremiah 4:12 a wind too strong for this comes at my call. Now I will also pronounce judgments against them.'”

Jeremiah 4:13 Look, he advances like clouds; his chariots are like a storm. His horses are swifter than eagles. Tragedy¹ to us, for we are ruined!

Jeremiah 4:14 Wash the evil from your heart, Jerusalem, so that you will be delivered. How long will you harbor malicious thoughts?

Jeremiah 4:15 For a voice announces from Dan, proclaiming malice from Mount Ephraim.

Jeremiah 4:16 Warn the nations: Look! Proclaim to Jerusalem: Those who besiege are coming from a distant land; they raise their voices against the cities of Judah.

Jeremiah 4:17 They have her surrounded like those who guard a field, because she has rebelled against me. this is what Yahveh declares.

Jeremiah 4:18 Your way and your actions have brought this on you. This is your punishment. It is very bitter, because it has reached your heart!

wholehearted surrender

Rev. Joe Pritchett, of Garner NC says that this text speaks of a coming judgment of God upon his people:

“But as is always the case with our long-suffering God, even when judgment is about to fall, he continues to reach out his hand of grace and forgiveness for a heart that genuinely returns to him. The Lord makes it clear, however, that he is not interested in any half-hearted apologies. They must respond to the Lord in a “truthful, just and righteous way.” He goes on to explain that they are to circumcise (or consecrate) themselves to him, but not simply in a symbolic, fleshly fashion, instead it is to be a circumcision of their hearts.”²

Lord, we surrender our whole hearts – our whole lives to you.

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1 אוֹי = tragedy. Jeremiah 4:13, 31; 6:4; 10:19; 13:27; 15:10; 45:3; 48:46.

2 Maranatha Daily Devotional “Truthful, Just and Righteous” Monday, November 2, 2015.

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they will come together

Posted on September 29, 2020 by Jefferson Vann

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they will come together

Jeremiah 3:11-4:2 (JDV)

Jeremiah 3:11 Yahveh announced to me, “Unfaithful Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah.
Jeremiah 3:12 Go, proclaim these words to the north, and say, ‘Return, unfaithful Israel. this is what Yahveh declares. I will not look on you with anger, because I am unfailing in my love. this is what Yahveh declares. I will not be angry permanently.
Jeremiah 3:13 Only acknowledge your violation—you have rebelled against Yahveh your God. You have dispersed your favors to strangers under every green tree and have not obeyed me. this is what Yahveh declares.
Jeremiah 3:14 ” ‘Return, you faithless children — this is what Yahveh declares — because I am your master, and I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.
Jeremiah 3:15 I will give you shepherds who are loyal to me, and they will shepherd you with knowledge and skill.
Jeremiah 3:16 When you multiply and increase in the land, in those days — this is what Yahveh declares — no one will say again, “The ark of Yahveh ‘s covenant.” It will never come to mind, and no one will remember or miss it. Another one will not be made.
Jeremiah 3:17 At that time Jerusalem will be called Yahveh’s Throne, and all the nations will be gathered to it, to the name of Yahveh in Jerusalem. They will cease to follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts.
Jeremiah 3:18 In those days the house of Judah will join with the house of Israel, and they will come together from the land of the north to the land I have given your fathers to inherit.'”
Jeremiah 3:19 I thought, “How I long to make you my sons and give you a desirable land, the most beautiful inheritance of all the nations.” I thought, “You will call me ‘My Father’ and never turn away from me.”
Jeremiah 3:20 However, as a woman may betray her lover, so you have betrayed me, house of Israel. this is what Yahveh declares.
Jeremiah 3:21 A sound is heard on the barren heights: the children of Israel weeping and begging for mercy, for they have perverted their way; they have forgotten Yahveh their God.
Jeremiah 3:22 Return, you faithless children. I will heal your unfaithfulness. “Here we are, coming to you, because you are Yahveh our God.
Jeremiah 3:23 Surely, falsehood comes from the hills, commotion from the mountains, but the salvation of Israel is only in Yahveh our God.
Jeremiah 3:24 From the time of our youth the shameful one has consumed what our fathers have worked for — their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.
Jeremiah 3:25 Let us lie down in our shame; let our disgrace cover us. We have failed Yahveh our God, both we and our fathers, from the time of our youth even to this day. We have not obeyed Yahveh our God.”
Jeremiah 4:1 If you return, Israel – this is what Yahveh declares – you will return to me, if you remove your repulsive idols from my presence and do not waver,
Jeremiah 4:2 then you can swear, “As Yahveh lives,” in truth, in justice, and in righteousness, then the nations will be blessed by him and will pride themselves in him.

they will come together

Jeremiah’s call for both Israel and Judah to return and be healed of their unfaithfulness is for a larger purpose. He sees a time in the future when all the nations will be gathered to Yahveh’s throne, will be blessed by him,and will pride themselves in him. This is the Mosaic covenant commission. The people of God were to be a sacred nation in order to draw all the other nations to him.

The same is true of new covenant congregations as well. It does not help for us to unify if we remain unfaithful to the one who called us. Our unity needs to be in truth, justice and righteousness. We need to draw people to the holiness of God — to a relationship with him based on truth.

Lord, unify us with a shared faithfulness to your truth.

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Posted in commitment, faithfulness, new covenant, unity | Tagged Jeremiah 3 | Leave a comment