Jeremiah 37:2 Neither he nor his attendants nor the people of the land paid any attention to the words the Lord had spoken through Jeremiah the prophet.
Just a little over two weeks ago there were a lot of people with a lot of opinions about who would win the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. There were those who considered themselves serious followers of the game and those who were loyal fans of a particular school and the casual observers. There were so many options for who might be champion. Now there are two options.
Zedekiah was king in Judah, the southern kingdom. He had not been made king in the usual way, anointed by a priest. He had been made king by Nebuchadnezzar, conqueror of Judah. Now Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian army are back, besieging the city, to finish what they had started. This would have been a good time to know what God thought! But he did not care what God thought. He had his own ideas. It wasn’t that they didn’t think Jeremi- ah spoke God’s words. He just paid no attention to them. He would soon pay the price for that choice. Interestingly, enough, a few verses after this one he does send to Jeremiah. He wants him to pray for him. In other words, he didn’t want to listen to God, but he was quite hoping God would listen to him!
When we ignore God’s Word, the Bible, when we pay no attention to the words the Lord has spoken there, we are left to come up with our own plans. This is, actually, the great promise of the enemy, “Be your own boss. Have it your way. You decide what’s best for you.” In the hopes of finding the best way we chase after all sorts of ideas. We might find our life advice on television, or movies. We may rather like social media and the guidance we find there. Perhaps friends and family provide us with the wisdom we need for living. Or maybe we just collate all that and do what we think is best. We adhere to the maxim, “Follow your heart!” Sounds good. But, when I go back to God’s Word, I find that that road has been traveled.
Proverbs 14:12 There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.
It turns out that when we really stop and think about it, all of those choices, all those ways of living life don’t provide countless options. They provide two: God’s way and the way that seems right to a man (or woman). There are a lot of people with a lot of opinions about how and what we should think and how we should live. There’s no end to the voices with opinions on what we should do. But when I decide to choose from that cafeteria plan of options and try to make my own path, disregarding the One Who made me, I have started down a very dangerous path indeed. God has all the wisdom we need in the Bible. We just need to pay attention!
Blessings
Pastor Russ
