I have recently been reading through the book of Jeremiah and have noticed a reoccurring theme. A point that the Lord is sure to make clear, time, and time again. God constantly sent messengers to the people of Israel warning them, and in essence, begging them to stop doing evil. God not only sent a message of repentance, forgiveness, and restoration many times, but He was also sure to always remind the people that He had done so. Yet they still would not listen or turn their lives back to Him.
Jeremiah 17:23 (ESV)
23 Yet they did not listen or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck, that they might not hear and receive instruction.
Jeremiah 35:15 (ESV)
15 I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, sending them persistently, saying, ‘Turn now every one of you from his evil way, and amend your deeds, and do not go after other gods to serve them, and then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to you and your fathers.’ But you did not incline your ear or listen to me.
Jeremiah 29:19 (ESV)
19 because they did not pay attention to my words, declares the Lord, that I persistently sent to you by my servants the prophets, but you would not listen, declares the Lord.’
Jeremiah 44:4 (ESV)
4 Yet I persistently sent to you all my servants the prophets, saying, ‘Oh, do not do this abomination that I hate!’
The same thing is still happening today. God is using people today to speak out against sin. To warn people about what lies ahead for them if they continue to live a life of sin. Telling them about how they can be forgiven and even receive eternal life. But sadly very few are willing to listen to those who God sends. Like those long ago they refuse to listen to the continual messages that the Lord is sending them.
Don’t think I am only speaking to the lost and unchurched. Yes, the message is presented to them and they don’t listen but the same can be said for many in our own churches. They hear God’s message every week but still refuse to listen. They know all that God wants them to do but they never apply it in their own lives. Truly being the hears only and not the doers of the Word that every Christian is supposed to be. Jesus said it is the one who hears the word and applies it that is wise.
James 1:22 (ESV)
22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
Matthew 7:24 (ESV)
24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
Christians must realize that God is still sending messengers today. People who are tasked with pointing the church in the right direction. Addressing issues within the body, speaking against sin, leading people to repentance, showing the path to salvation, sharing the Gospel message, and making sure those who call themselves Christians honor God as they should with their lives. These people are out there and they are God’s ordained. Listen to the message that God has give them and apply it to your lives. Even when the message may not be the one you want to hear.
Don’t be like those we read of in the Old Testament who were given every opportunity. The ones who God reached out to time and time again but still refused to accept what He offered them. Because they chose instead to listen to false messengers who only told them the message they wanted to hear. Not the one that had the power to save them. Scripture is clear that many in our own time will do this same thing. Don’t let that be you.
Jeremiah 23:16–17 (ESV)
16 Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. 17 They say continually to those who despise the word of the Lord, ‘It shall be well with you’; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you.’ ”
2 Timothy 4:4 (ESV)
4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
God’s messengers are not always going to bring a message that you want to hear. It won’t always cause you to walk out of the church feeling good about yourself. But true messengers of God will always bring a message that will save your soul. But you must hear it and apply it. Don’t be like those of old who didn’t listen to the messages God sent. Who instead trusted in false messengers that spoke only lies for their own gain.
Know that the Lord is constantly sending messages into our world because He wants to see people saved. Don’t keep ignoring them until finally, it is too late for you to be saved by their words. Embrace the message. Apply it to your life. Serve God as He Himself is telling you to through His messengers every week at church, on the radio, in the written word, and even through your friends and family. Repent of your sins, turn from your old ways, give your life fully to God, seek Him first, and be saved.
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