Friday – Prophets

Reading – Jeremiah 34-36

Highlight Verse:

““Therefore, this is what the Lord says: Since you have not obeyed me by setting your countrymen free, I will set you free to be destroyed by war, disease, and famine. You will be an object of horror to all the nations of the earth.”
‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭34‬:‭17‬ ‭NLT‬‬

As far as I’m concerned, you can keep that kind of freedom!

Seriously, though, God has given us freedom. We can do whatever we want whenever we want.

But that doesn’t mean there won’t be consequences.

We may choose to free ourselves from the path God directs us down, but we need to be aware that when we do that, we take ourselves out of a zone of protection that God provides along that path.

You may ask me, “why then do people who are faithful to God suffer and die?” That is a very good question. The standard answer is that we live in a fallen world and the death and evil in this world can affect anyone in it.

That seems to contradict what I said above about the zone of protection.

Perhaps it is better put like this, when we deliberately stray from God’s path, we invite negative consequences.

When we stick to God’s path, bad things can still happen, but that’s the exception, not the rule.

For example, if you consistently drive at double the speed limit, at best, you invite an expensive speeding ticket. It is also very likely that you will have an accident that could cost far more than mere money.

If you drive at the speed limit, you are very unlikely to get into an accident.

But that doesn’t mean you will never get hit by that person doing double the speed limit.

Bottom line, life is better along the path that God guides you down.

Have you had to deal with the heavy cost of straying from God’s path?
Have you told God lately how grateful you are for the protection over your life so far?