Hear The Words of Warning

"But if you will not hear these words, I swear by Myself,” says the LORD, “that this house shall become a desolation.” Jeremiah 22:5

Back in the day, God sent several prophetic messengers to Israel and Judah. At least some, perhaps all, of these messages were written down and preserved for us. We know from the prophets that the children of Israel were often in trouble with the Lord. Jeremiah is no exception to this and he gave to them a stern message from God, which we can paraphrase as: hear or be destroyed.

The key words are 'will not', for they are the heart of disobedience before the Lord. Eve was encouraged by the serpent to do her will and not God's will in the matter of one little fruit. Adam decided that he would follow Eve's will instead of God, and his disobedience caused all the thorns in the world. We have a decision we make quite often of a similar nature: my will or His will. In order to follow my will when it is different from God's will, I must say that fateful, "will not" to Him. When I or anyone else would follow our will as opposed to God's will, we must hear the words of warning.

Jeremiah passed on those very words to the kings of Judah. We know from the Bible that the kings decided for the will-nots, and Judah did become a house of desolation. Why was their will so important to them? The same reason ours is, I suppose, we want to be in charge when we drive our ship onto the rocks of perdition.

I am so glad that Jesus saved me from my will, for my will is such a dangerous thing to myself when it is disobedient to my God. The will of my Lord is what is best for me; so says the Spirit, as I hear the old man of the flesh screaming like the spoiled and willful brat that it is. Down, brat, let us follow the Lord!

Bucky