Scripture Passage
Scripture Focus
“As these men watch you, Jeremiah, smash the jar you brought. Then say to them, ‘This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies says: As this jar lies shattered, so I will shatter the people of Judah and Jerusalem beyond all hope of repair. (Jeremiah 19:10-11 NLT)
Observation
There’s nothing better than a good illustration, and some guys have made it an art form. I can still remember a sermon I heard almost 40 years ago where the parts of a hammer illustrated every point. (“You should catch a clue from that, Pastor Kent!” “Yeah, I know…”)
The Lord has an object lesson for the people of Judah, drawn from a common household jar. He instructs Jeremiah to smash the jar in front of Judah’s leaders and priests—and then tell them that His plans for Judah are the same…
I will shatter the people of Judah and Jerusalem beyond all hope of repair. (Jeremiah 19:10-11 NLT)
What contrast between who the people Judah should have been and the people Judah had become! Redeemed from dehumanizing slavery in Egypt and given identity as God’s people at Mt. Sinai, Abraham’s descendents were to picture for the world the love, holiness, and character of God. Instead—because of their own neglect of and rebellion against God—they would become a picture of something as irreparably broken and utterly worthless to the world as a shattered Mason jar.
Judah’s story is one thing—mine is another…at least, it needs to be. So I’m thinking today of what object lesson God might want make of my life—of what truths He intends for me to exhibit, of what truths I am displaying, and of how I might eliminate the gap between those two illustrative pictures! “O Lord, Let my life reveal how glorious you are!”
***
No comments:
Post a Comment