September 5, 2020: Day 14 – Jeremiah 14

If you were to pick up at vs.11 you would see where God asks Jeremiah, again, to not pray for the people because they have wandering feet.  But Jeremiah responds and says: My colleagues are telling the people that everything is fine, there is no problem.  There never will be a famine, nor will the sword strike them down.  My colleagues, my fellow priests, are telling the people that everything is just fine.

Not everything is fine.  God tells Jeremiah that his colleagues are wrong, they are preaching a message  that was not given to them by Him.  They will be consumed just as the people will be consumed because they are telling a message that they have made up and is not a message given by God.

How can we tell if a message is from God or if it is our own desires that are directing the message?  There are parameters that allow us to understand what is God’s message and what is our message.  The parameters are laid out by the greatest commandment which is to love God and to love neighbor.  When we try to give a message that is just to reinforce our own preconceived ideas of how things should be, well then we will easily fall prey to our own message.  

If we are stuck upon one issue that we deem as most important and then forget other incredibly important issues which Jesus actually spoke about (poverty, justice, love of stranger) then we will more than likely become  like those colleagues of Jeremiah who preach just to please the people and have wandering feet.