4-25-13. Jeremiah 10:1-25. THE LORD IS THE LIVING GOD – my devotional

Key Verse: 10:10a                                                                                  Kevin E. Jesmer

“But the Lord is the true God;    he is the living God, the eternal King….”

     Dear Lord, thank you for simply being there for us. You are with me when I go to sleep and when I get up. Your endless love quenches my soul. Your endless wisdom satisfies my heart and mind. Your endless hope sparks with me a passion to see the kingdom of God grow in the hearts of your people and across our land. Lord, I pray that you work among us to raise up missionaries to go to the ends of the earth with the word of God. Please grant grow your wisdom in my heart today. I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen!

God had warned his people about the bad influence of the nations that he would drive out before them, and that their practices would be a snare. Look at verses 1-15. They read, “Hear what the Lord says to you, people of Israel. ² This is what the Lord says: “Do not learn the ways of the nations or be terrified by signs in the heavens, though the nations are terrified by them. ³ For the practices of the peoples are worthless; they cut a tree out of the forest, and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel. ⁴ They adorn it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so it will not totter. ⁵ Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field, their idols cannot speak; they must be carried  because they cannot walk. Do not fear them; they can do no harm nor can they do any good.”⁶ No one is like you, Lord; you are great, and your name is mighty in power. ⁷ Who should not fear you, King of the nations?  This is your due. Among all the wise leaders of the nations and in all their kingdoms,there is no one like you. ⁸ They are all senseless and foolish; they are taught by worthless wooden idols. ⁹ Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish and gold from Uphaz. What the craftsman and goldsmith have made is then dressed in blue and purple— all made by skilled workers. ¹⁰ But the Lord is the true God; he is the living God, the eternal King. When he is angry, the earth trembles; the nations cannot endure his wrath. ¹¹ “Tell them this: ‘These gods, who did not make the heavens and the earth, will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.’” ¹² But God made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding. ¹³ When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth. He sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses. ¹⁴ Everyone is senseless and without knowledge; every goldsmith is shamed by his idols. The images he makes are a fraud; they have no breath in them. ¹⁵ They are worthless, the objects of mockery; when their judgment comes, they will perish.”

The pagan world’s gods are handmade and worthless; they cannot speak. They are even worse than useless because they keep people from their only true Savior. They also create societies that keep the hearts of their people in perpetual bondage with no hope for freedom. More importantly, they rob people of eternal life. Likewise, ideologies and false religions cannot help us. I thank God for the gospel of Jesus who frees us to serve the living God. We are free to live a life of love, truth and joy. We are full of hope, in this world and the next. The gospel frees our minds and hearts to be inventive and creative and explore new options. I have the freedom to say “no” tp people and the freedom to follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Yes, I did worship the idols of my culture in the past. I worshipped money, pleasure, unlimited human freedom, myself. More recently, I was treating Christian ministry as an idol, serving it, expecting ministry to bring me joy and meaning and getting angry with people who weren’t worshipping this idol along with me. All of these were idols to me because I gave my heart to them and expected certain returns in life. But they left me wanting. I was suffering a lot because my heart, mind and soul was empty and only sinful things could give me temporary satisfaction. But then Jesus came into my life. He saved me from idol worship. He set me on the right course to worship the one true God. And since then my heart has been set free. Praise the Lord for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Praise the Lord from saving me from idol worship.

We must remember God. “No one is like you, LORD: you are great, and your name is mighty in power.” The LORD is the true God; he is the living God, the eternal King. He is the Creator who patiently works out his own good purpose in our lives. We are truly free and can have life to the full when we give up our idols and worship Jesus alone.

God warns his people of coming judgment. Look at verses 16-20, “¹⁶ He who is the Portion of Jacob is not like these, for he is the Maker of all things, including Israel, the people of his inheritance—the Lord Almighty is his name.Coming Destruction ¹⁷ Gather up your belongings to leave the land, you who live under siege. ¹⁸ For this is what the Lord says: “At this time I will hurl out those who live in this land; I will bring distress on them so that they may be captured.” ¹⁹ Woe to me because of my injury! My wound is incurable! Yet I said to myself,“This is my sickness, and I must endure it.” ²⁰ My tent is destroyed;all its ropes are snapped. My children are gone from me and are no more;no one is left now to pitch my tent  or to set up my shelter.” Let’s facts, there is the judgment of God. The Bible teaches us that we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. Those how have Jesus as their savior stand before the throne of God forgiven. They will receive a rich reward in heaven. But those who do not have Jesus do not have an advocate from on high. They don’t have a sacrifice. Who will plead their case? No one. They can not plead their own case because all have sinned. May the people of this world know that they need Jesus to pass the judgment.

     Another problem with the people of that time were the spiritual leaders. Look at verses 21-22,  “The shepherds are senseless and do not inquire of the Lord; so they do not prosper and all their flock is scattered.²² Listen! The report is coming— a great commotion from the land of the north! It will make the towns of Judah desolate, a haunt of jackals.” Jeremiah saw that his people, including their shepherds (elders, priests), were all senseless, and would be scattered and destroyed. The spiritual leaders have some responsibility before God. They are to make sure the flock of God is not scattered, but rather gathered up to God himself and eternal life and the kingdom of God. Spiritual leaders need to pray to God and inquire of God on how to be good shepherds. May God raise up shepherds across our land who can pray and find guidance from the word of God and the spirit of God.

     Let’s think briefly about Jeremiah’s prayerin verses 23-25, “²³ Lord, I know that people’s lives are not their own; it is not for them to direct their steps. ²⁴ Discipline me, Lord, but only in due measure not in your anger, or you will reduce me to nothing. ²⁵ Pour out your wrath on the nations that do not acknowledge you, on the peoples who do not call on your name. For they have devoured Jacob; they have devoured him completely and destroyed his homeland.” Jeremiah cries in woe but instead of ignoring God’s discipline as his people did, Jeremiah wants the Lord’s discipline. What a mature spiritual leader Jeremiah was. Who would actually ask for the Lord to discipline them? Such a person may be asking for some hard training. But they will be blessed. I need God to discipline me so that I can be more effective in bringing glory to God and advertising the gospel to the people so they may turn their hearts from idols and worship the one true God and discover eternal. May God bless the nations.

Prayer: Father, there is no one like you, our Creator, our Living God. Please help me to have a right relationship with you, fear you and receive your discipline humbly.

One Word: The LORD is the true God