We are in chapter 44 and Jeremiah is again still prophesying to these disobedient people.

What a job!

The Lord says…

¹⁰ They have not become humble to this day, and they have not feared or followed my instruction or my statutes that I set before you and your ancestors.

¹¹ “Therefore, this is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: I am about to set my face against you.. 

And the people say… literally all the menand all the women…

¹⁶ “As for the word you spoke to us in the name of the Lord, we are not going to listen to you! ¹⁷ Instead, we will do everything we promised: we will burn incense to the queen of heaven and offer drink offerings to her just as we, our ancestors, our kings, and our officials did in Judah’s cities and in Jerusalem’s streets. Then we had enough food, we were well off, and we saw no disaster, ¹⁸ but from the time we ceased to burn incense to the queen of heaven and to offer her drink offerings, we have lacked everything, and through sword and famine we have met our end.”

Wow, the audacity! They knew he spoke the word of the Lord and they did not care.

The Prophet Jeremiah spent a life of more unrelieved sadness than has perhaps fallen to the lot of any other, with the exception of the Divine Lord. Jeremiah was not the Suffering Servant, but he was a suffering servant to the very end.”

Phillip Ryken

Sadly – we often behave the same way as these people, going our own direction, making our own decisions, not even thinking about the Lord and what He has said. They made it clear that they would serve other gods. They chose idols. Sunday, my pastor said, “There is a war for your worship!” How do we know what it is that we truly worship? Ask yourself: What is it that I think about the most? Is it making money, gaining influence, power, or even as simple as scrolling on your phone all day. If it isnt Jesus, then whatever occupies your mind and heart is your idol.

The Lord is described like this:

But You, O Lord, are a God full of compassion, and gracious, Longsuffering and abundant in mercy and truth.

Psalm 86:15

But when He is done giving us plenty of opportunity to repent and return, this is what He said to these people.

²² The Lord can no longer bear your evil deeds and the detestable acts you have committed, so your land has become a waste, a desolation, and an example for cursing, without inhabitant, as you see today. ²³ Because you burned incense and sinned against the Lord and didn’t obey the Lord and didn’t follow his instruction, his statutes, and his testimonies, this disaster has come to you, as you see today.”

But to those who followed Him and took heed to His warning, He says this in Chapter 45:

⁴ “This is what you are to say to him: ‘This is what the Lord says: “What I have built I am about to demolish, and what I have planted I am about to uproot—the whole land! ⁵ But as for you, do you pursue great things for yourself? Stop pursuing! For I am about to bring disaster on all humanity”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“but I will grant you your life like the spoils of war wherever you go.”’”

Anyone who finds his life will lose it, 

and anyone who loses his life because of me will find it.

Matthew 10:39

Thanks for Listening,

Starla