A 100% God Fearing Life Without Full Submission? (Jeremiah 43-49)
Hold up, is that even possible? A 100% God fearing life? No, but does that mean it shouldn’t be our goal though?
Our goal as Christians is to glorify God… part of that is a heart yearning to be as Christ-like as possible.
As Jesus on earth was 100% God and 100% man, He is our perfect example for us to follow.
It’s never too late to start!
Download your first two weeks free by signing up below (or buy Book One of the Family Bible Plan)!
Hold up, is that even possible? A 100% God fearing life? No, but does that mean it shouldn’t be our goal though?
Our goal as Christians is to glorify God… part of that is a heart yearning to be as Christ-like as possible.
As Jesus on earth was 100% God and 100% man, He is our perfect example for us to follow.
It’s never too late to start!
Download your first two weeks free by signing up below (or buy Book One of the Family Bible Plan)!
They Went to Egypt...
The Israelites had a choice to make: Jeremiah gave them a dire warning in Jeremiah 42-43 if they were to go there to ‘escape’ an exile to Babylon.
For you sent me to the Lord your God, saying, ‘Pray for us to the Lord our God, and whatever the Lord our God says, declare to us and we will do it.’ And I have this day declared it to you, but you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord your God in anything that he sent me to tell you.
Now therefore know for a certainty that you shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence in the place where you desire to go to live.”
Do not go. Simple as that.
Yet, it says that two men, along with all of the insolent men challenged him and convinced the army and the peoples to go to Egypt in direct disobedience to God. (Jeremiah 43:2)
If you will note, it was the insolent men who banded together to disobey as one.
Two questions to consider:
- Did these man show by example a God fearing life?
- Did those men encourage others to live God fearing lives?
Once in Egypt...
The leaders of the people had willfully disobeyed God. Now, while in Egypt, Jeremiah again warns them–this time about worshiping false gods.
The Israelites were currently facing the consequences of their prior disobedient lifestyle where they sacrificed, worshiped, and gave burned incense to other gods. A lifestyle that clearly was not God fearing.
Yet, look again at the caliber of who challenges the warning as well as their response. They fail to make the connection to their current situation and the warning Jeremiah is giving them now.
“As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord, we will not listen to you. But we will do everything that we have vowed, make offerings to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her, as we did, both we and our fathers, our kings and our officials, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. For then we had plenty of food, and prospered, and saw no disaster.
Look at how the author identifies the first grouping of those who answered Jeremiah: “All the men who knew that their wives had made offerings to other gods.” Oddly similar reaction as that of the insolent men from the prior chapter.
Those who disobeyed, already had self-interest as a higher priority. Rather than submit, they chose to dig in… again.
They continued to choose a life that was not God fearing.
What was God wanting from them?
Without having read the Old Testament, it can be an easy assumption to claim what others do: that the “God of the Old Testament was so angry all the time.”
When reading through the Old Testament, it becomes clear that we can never truly grasp God’s ultimate holiness and sovereignty. So too, we learn that the consequences the Israelites faced were offered with grace and love. Similarly, the consequences we deal with as Christians today are offered in that same spirit to guide us for our ultimate good.
God wanted to see a change in the Israelites to individuals with humble hearts and spirits of reverence… God fearing lives.
The warnings did not matter enough to them to right their sin. The dire prophecies did not trump their desire for their own ways. They continually refused to humble themselves and that is the root of why they had to face the consequences they did.
A prophet without honor...
Jeremiah faced this on a much lesser level than Jesus, but the point remains. Jeremiah was dismissed and ignored, even though the message he gave came from the Creator of the Universe, the God of their nation.
Jesus went through this as the people of his hometown thought nothing more of him than characteristics they once knew about him. They were not able to see who Jesus truly was, only what they once knew Him to be.
As we walk through this one life we have, if we seek the Lord, rest assured we will begin a transformation that is like no other.
Slow changes...
God will work through us step by step to teach us how to be more Christ-like and to live out God fearing lives: our desires will change, our yearnings for Heaven, the flippancy of all our concerns on earth will be more understood in relation to eternity.
Along with that, our characteristics will also change. It’s similar to someone who loses weight, one pound a week at a time–someone who sees them all the time would not be so apt to notice. However, if you hadn’t seen them in a year, you would notice a significant amount of change.
It is similar with our personhood, the people around us in our daily life may not see our daily heart and attitude changes since they occur one step at a time. Besides, it is easier to pigeonhole someone into the box you have placed them in than to accept that they have changed and grown.
God fearing submission...
Which way are your baby steps headed?
Do the steps you take lead you closer to a God fearing life?
Do they lead you away?
Jeremiah relayed to the Israelites multiple times that God would relinquish His just punishment if they showed humility and repentance. They continuously went their own way stepping away from submitting to God’s authority.
Why are we so stubborn? We are often no different than the Israelites were, although it is much easier to look at them and scoff at their stubborn unrepentance.
When we look at our own lives, do we not see much of the same thing? No we will never get to 100% submission, but our hearts and minds ought to WANT to get there, to glorify God and be an example of living a God fearing life.
Does obeying God trump your earthly desires?
Do you want to fully submit to God, the One who truly has your best interest at heart? Why or why not?
Last Week
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I continue to be encouraged and challenged by Jeremiah ‘s faithfulness!