Daily Devotional for October 20, 2015
Jeremiah 8
Scripture:
4 “Say to them, ‘This is what the LORD says: ” ‘When men fall down, do they not get up? When a man turns away, does he not return?
5 Why then have these people turned away? Why does Jerusalem always turn away? They cling to deceit; they refuse to return.
6 I have listened attentively, but they do not say what is right. No one repents of his wickedness, saying, “What have I done?” Each pursues his own course like a horse charging into battle.
7 Even the stork in the sky knows her appointed seasons, and the dove, the swift and the thrush observe the time of their migration. But my people do not know the requirements of the LORD.
Observation:
With three young boys in my house the idea of clean is hard to comprehend. I was taking a close look at our car the other day and noticed napkins under the seat, crumbs on the floor, French fries in the seats, and sticks everywhere. Yes, I said sticks, they are boys after all. I am not sure how long it took my car to get that dirty or how long we have been driving it like this, but the moment I noticed it, I cleaned it.
Sin can work in similar ways in our lives. Sin will often take us farther than we want to go, keep us longer than we wanted to stay, and cost us more than we wanted to pay. Sometimes it creeps up on us and sometimes it is something we have been dealing with for a while. It is this sin in our lives that will hinder our relationship with the Lord. In this passage, it appears that God’s people are refusing to repent and turn from their sin which is causing the judgment that is on its way. For us, once the Holy Spirit reveals our mistakes, we must repent, turn back to God, and continue this discipleship journey to become the Spirit-Empowered Men that God has called us to. If you take a close look at your life and see something that shouldn’t be there, I encourage you to turn to God and seek his forgiveness and help.
Application:
- Personal Application: It is important for us, in the presence of the Lord (Church Altar or Personal Devotional Time), to take a deep look into our heart and life. On a regular basis, we should be identifying sin in our lives and asking the Lord to forgive us and to help us to overcome. Sitting down with a friend and asking them to speak into your life will also provide an opportunity to identify sin issues on our lives.
- Family Devotional: Read this passage to your family. Ask them if they can identify the mistake made by the children of God in these verses. Encourage them to spend some time with the Lord to ask for forgiveness and help in the sin areas of their life. Pray for them.
Prayer:
- Personal Prayer Focus: Ask God for forgiveness of the mistakes that hinder your relationship with Him and for help to overcome in those areas.
- Family Prayer Focus: Pray that your family will always stay sensitive to the prompting of the Holy Spirit as relates to areas of growth in their lives.
Three Year Reading Plan for Sunday, October 11 – Sunday, October 18:
- Sunday, October 18: Jeremiah 6
- Monday, October 19: Jeremiah 7
- Tuesday, October 20: Jeremiah 8
- Wednesday, October 21: Jeremiah 9
- Thursday, October 22: Jeremiah 10
- Friday, October 23: Jeremiah 11
- Saturday, October 24: Jeremiah 12
- Sunday, October 25: Jeremiah 13
—TOM GROOT is National Director of Men’s Ministry and Christian Education. Connect with Tom on Facebook or Twitter @TomGrootJr.
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise marked, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblicia, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™
Fire Bible® elements including all Articles, the Bible Reading Plan, selected black and white maps and charts as noted, Book Introductions and outlines, color maps and the Color Map Index, footnotes, Study Notes, Subject Index, Themefinder™Index are the property of Life Publishers International, Springfield, MO U.S.A. All rights reserved.