Jeremiah 9
The Weeping Prophet!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, March 26.
Have you ever sat under a pastor who cried when proclaiming the goodness of God? I am profoundly touched by such a display of emotion when I discern it to be real, but I cringe if I believe it to be showmanship. Truly, only the Lord knows a person’s heart! Jeremiah was the real deal, giving him the reputation as the “weeping prophet.” We catch a glimpse of this in Jeremiah 9:1, “Oh that my head were waters and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!” His depth of concern for the well-being of God’s people reminds me of the Apostle Paul’s compassionate concern for the Jewish people, from whom he experienced rejection and ridicule. He said in Romans 9:1-3, “I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren.” Wow: that’s love!
The heartache of Jeremiah and Paul has another similarity, their proclamation of what it means to be Israel. Paul says in Romans 9:6, “For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel.” The prophet explained that being a child of Israel was not about a nationality; it’s a condition of one’s heart, foreshadowing the necessity of the New Covenant in Jeremiah 9:25-26, “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “that I will punish all who are circumcised and yet uncircumcised – … for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised of heart.”
Seize the moment and ask the Lord to reveal the truth of your heart (Romans 2:28-29; Colossians 2:11). Does your heart break for the things that break God’s heart?
God bless you!
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YOUTUBE:
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