Daily Devotion May 14

May 14: Jeremiah 6:16-20

KJV Key Verse: Jeremiah 6:16
16 Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see , and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said , We will not walk therein.

Devotion:
Jeremiah had the unfortunate task of delivering bad news to the people of Israel, but he knew that nothing should stop him from giving people what God wanted them to hear. As a church leader, in whatever form you may be a leader, you need to make sure you are doing what God wants you to do and not what you think is comfortable to do. God is not going to ask you to do anything you cannot do; but He may well ask you to do something you don’t really want to do!

Jeremiah’s message points back to the ‘old ways.’ This was not to say God was requiring a return to the regular sacrifices or to the keeping of the correct feasts or to doing any other religious ways. This was God telling the people they should return to being in a right and proper relationship with Him once again. It is not the work, religion or any other things that matter to God but an honesty between the people and God that counts most of all.

As with any relationship, deception is not going to get us very far especially when we are found out. The problem is we cannot and will never deceive God! The only person we are deceiving when we try to deceive God is ourselves. God tries to set the right people in place in our lives so we will listen to His ways and live effectively with Him but we are the ones who ignore these people and God’s ways to choose our own direction and desires instead.

God wants us to be effective Christians which means doing what is righteous and His will in our lives. That implies listening to Him through His Word and through the Holy Spirit to ensure we walk a closer walk with Him. When we stop listening, stop loving or stop communicating with Him, we find ourselves drifting away from Him and drifting toward the places He is trying to get us to avoid. Being with God means so much more than just pitching up in church once a week!

Points to Ponder:
What sort of life do you live?

Is Christ at the centre of your life?