Joy and Delight

"Your words were found and I ate them,
And Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart;
For I have been called by Your name,
O Lord God of hosts."
Jeremiah 15:16

The circumstances of these words by Jeremiah will humble you, and challenge you.  The Israelites  have turned their backs on God and have gone after idols for generations.  A good king would rise up and the people would turn back to God and then an evil king would turn their hearts away from God.  King Josiah was the last Godly king, then after a series of evil kings, God sent Babylon to takeHis people into captivity.  God says through Jeremiah in chapter 15 that some would be destined to death, some to the sword, some to famine, and others to captivity.  Jeremiah is sent by God to tell His people that judgment was coming!  Jeremiah was hated, rejected, scorned, cursed, and his life threatened because of his warnings of coming judgment.  He is called the "weeping prophet".  He wishes he had never been born, he complains against God, but he is obedient.  And in the midst of this he even declares that he finds joy and his hearts delight in the word of God!  He knows that God's word brings life and healing to those who will be transformed by it.  He knows that God is faithful to His children.  He knows that all things work for th good for those who love the Lord. (Romans 8:38)

 Jeremiah sees the rejection of the people as rejection from the people not from God. He knows that it comes through the hand of God, but he still chooses to trust God's heart of love to him.  These verses follow:

I did not sit in the circle of merrymakers,
Nor did I exult.
Because of Your hand upon me I sat alson,
For You filled me with indignation...

Therefore,  Thus says the Lord, 'If you return, then I will restore you -
Before Me you will stand...'"

Jeremiah acknowledges his emotions, his aloneness, but then turns back to what God says and stands and acts upon God's promise.

My prayer for you today is that you may know the joy and delight of your heart through the word of God no matter what your circumstances are.  You have been called by His name; You are His.  Rejoice!

Hint for the day: Introduce your children to Jeremiah by taking a cloth belt from a robe and burying it in the back yard.  Leave it for the day or for a rew days.  Then read the story about Jeremiah and his belt in chapter 13.Talk about how pride ruined Israel, but that through it all, God offered a way back to Himself - repentance and whole-heartedness.