Jeremiah
10 reminds me that we have a pack mentality. In new or
uncomfortable situations we feel comfort in conforming. Most
people simply do what everyone else is doing because they don’t
want to look foolish. We’ve all done it at a large event-
just follow the crowd to the exit. In today’s chapter,
Jeremiah shakes the sheep hoping to get their attention, “Hear
what the Lord says to you“.
And he adds, “Do not learn the
ways of the nations“. He
is talking to the Jewish people prior to Babylonian captivity and
knows they will be pressured to assimilate. He instructs them,
“The practices of the peoples
are worthless“. He warns
against astrology and he warns against idolatry and concludes, “Do
not fear them; they
can do no harm nor can they do any good… Like a scarecrow… their
idols cannot speak“. In
fact, “they must be carried“.
Are you carrying an old burden or relic from place to place? In
contrast, “No one is like you,
Lord; You are great, and Your Name is mighty in power“.
The atheist says, God does not speak, but His wisdom is written in
His Word. I find that when I pray, then read, God speaks very
clearly. Do you need answers? The wisdom of God is found
in the Bible.
Next Jeremiah speaks to leaders.
Whether of a family, a business, or a nation, leaders must guard
against becoming haughty. He offers this question, “Who
should not fear You, King of the nations?”
Without God’s authority, “They
are all senseless and foolish“.
Humility teaches, “The Lord is
the true God; He is the living God, the Eternal King… He founded
the world by His wisdom and stretched out the heavens by His
understanding“. Without
that grounding, “Everyone is
senseless and without knowledge“.
Leaders that listen to only praise will stumble. Without
accountability, “They are
worthless, the objects of mockery“.
He warns these leaders “are
senseless and do not inquire of
the Lord; so they do not prosper and all their flock is scattered“.
Friend, who do you follow?
Jeremiah
closes with a prayer. He does not pray for protection and
happiness, but he prays that God’s discipline would bring His
people back to Himself. “I
know that people’s lives are not their own“.
He prays that he would align himself under God’s authority,
“Discipline
me, Lord, but…
not
in Your anger“.
And he prays against every nation that refuses to honor God, “Pour
out Your wrath on
the
nations that do not acknowledge You“.
Jesus often taught crowds of people, but He always called
individuals
to follow Him. Jesus healed many, but always individually.
Jesus
was more than a leader and teacher, He is the Savior. In the
greatest demonstration of love, He took the punishment for our sin.
Please understand He did not come to save mankind, He came to save
each one of us. Mocked and beaten, spit upon and whipped, He
stood in my place. “God
made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might
become the righteousness of God”
(2 Corinthians 5:21). In Matthew 18 He explained a parable
about the shepherd leaving the pack in search of the lost sheep.
“I
tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the
ninety-nine that did not wander off.
In
the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these
little ones should perish“.
Maybe it’s time to stop following the crowd? Do you hear
God’s Word? Can your faith overcome your desire for
conformity?