“Across the room, a person is crying, tears streaming down her face. The setting may be a funeral, or it may be a wedding. The floodgates of human emotion have burst, and tears of sorrow or tears of joy flow.
Lamentations could be called the Book of Tears, for it is a lament for a wounded, broken, punished city and its people. For 40 long years, Jeremiah had warned his people of impending doom. But they hadn’t listened. They rejected Jeremiah and his message. Because of that, the hour of doom had come. Jerusalem, once a golden city, became a pile of rubble. The magnificent Temple lay in utter ruins. Even worse, Jerusalem’s people were on their way to Babylon as captives, many of them never to return. (Wow! Pain is always greater when the reason for the pain could have been avoided.)
Jeremiah wept. His sorrow was sincere and ran deep. He cried for a wounded, broken city. He cried for its people, and in that sense his tears were both sympathetic and empathetic. Jeremiah was not grieving for his own future. Tragic circumstances could not shake his faith in God. His was a broken heart, but it was a heart broken because of the sin of his people and the needless destruction that came as a consequence of that sin. The road to sin may be filled with temporary pleasures, but the final destination is always misery. (Wow! Lord help us recognize that those temporary pleasures aren’t worth lifelong misery.)
For what do you weep today? What stirs you enough to bring tears to your eyes? The type of jokes that prompt laughter reveal something of the character of a person. But the kind of circumstance that prompts grief and tears can be even more revealing. Is there something in your life that should stir your grief, some sin for which you should weep?
Jeremiah wept because he was one of the few people left who was still sensitive to sin. How about you? Do you feel uncomfortable when you do something you know displeases God? Those who become desensitized to sin have little chance of becoming right with God because they have lost their connection to him. Jeremiah remained sensitive to sin because he remained sensitive to God – his word, his will, and his work.
Commit yourself, like Jeremiah, to filling your day with godly thoughts and actions. Ask God to make you uncomfortable – and even grief-stricken – over sin in your life and in the lives of others. Then enjoy the peace and security that comes from a close relationship with him. (Touch Point Bible) (Yes, Lord!)
Lord, thank you for your Word today! Thank you for allowing us to explore and learn from another book of your amazing Word! In the few chapters in this book, help us regain any lost sensitivity to sin, fighting the normalization of sin in our lives, and committing ourselves to thoughts, words, and actions that please you. Lord, we love you!
May the Lord bless you and protect you. May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
….AND MAY WE ALL PRACTICE THIS WITH ONE ANOTHER.
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