Thoughts for the Day

Thus says the Lord:
Stand at the crossroads, and look,
and ask for the ancient paths,
where the good way lies; and walk in it,
and find rest for your souls.
But they said, 'We will not walk in it.'
Also I raised up sentinels for you:
'Give heed to the sound of the trumpet!'
But they said, 'We will not give heed.'.....

Of what use to me is frankincense
that comes from Sheba,
or sweet cane from a distant land?
Your burnt-offerings are not acceptable,
nor are your sacrifices pleasing to me.

(Church in Wales Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

The prophet Jeremiah had a 40-year ministry and throughout his time he displayed the most amazing courage against enormous opposition. He was the son of a priest that lived in a small village from where he could see the walls of Jerusalem. His ministry was to warn the people to follow in God's ways, and he lived during the reigns of the following kings, among others: Josiah (a reforming king), Jehoiakim (an atrocious king) and Zedekiah (who tried to play the two great powers of Babylon and Egypt against each other). Despite Jeremiah's continuous warnings, and his dreadful persecution by the authorities, Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians in 587 BCE and the people of Judah were taken captive.

The passage above gives us a flavour of Jeremiah's prophecies, and it is no less applicable to our own era. Just as a traveller must look for the good paths on a journey where others have walked, we should also take note, not of trumpets but of warnings that God sends. Today, we are called first to pray about world issues, like our destruction of the earth and its people, and then do something about them. As individuals we need to try to make small steps to make changes in our lives, and to encourage others to copy us. Perhaps you could look at the suggestions under Further Thoughts, below, and see if you can make some changes to your life.

Lord God,
You give us this wonderful world
to live in,
but we confess that we are
destroying it.
Help us to make sensible changes
to our life,
and to encourage others to do so as well,
so that we may reverse the changes
that that have been made.
Amen.