Friday – Prophets

Reading – Jeremiah 37-39

Highlight Verse:

““But I am afraid to surrender,” the king said, “for the Babylonians may hand me over to the Judeans who have defected to them. And who knows what they will do to me!””
‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭38‬:‭19‬ ‭NLT‬‬

The person who inspires the strongest emotional response from me in today’s reading is… Zedekiah.

I didn’t say positive emotions.

It seems like everything he did was out of fear.

• He put Jeremiah in prison because he is afraid of his advisors.

• He rescued Jeremiah because he was afraid of Jeremiah’s friends.

• He called for Jeremiah’s advice because he was afraid of God.

• He ignored the advice because he was afraid of the King of Babylon and his countrymen.

And he paid the price in a most gruesome way.

At least he got one thing right. He consulted God through Jeremiah.

But he was too afraid to obey what God said through Jeremiah.

To be sure, walking the path God has for us is not for the faint hearted.

Like Zedekiah, we need to consult God. Today we have the Bible to consult and wise people to advise us.

Unlike Zedekiah, we need to act on what God says.

Zedekiah could have spared himself so much pain and suffering if only he had been bold enough to act on what God said.

We could not only save ourselves pain and suffering but we could spread the joy of God’s love if we just do what He says.

Have you ever suffered for not following God’s Word?
How has God blessed you when you have followed His Word?