(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)
“Then Zedekiah the king sent and took Jeremiah the prophet to himself into the third entry that is in Yahweh’s house. Then the king said to Jeremiah, “I will ask you something. Hide nothing from me.” Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I declare it to you, will you not surely put me to death? If I give you counsel, you will not listen to me.” So Zedekiah the king swore secretly to Jeremiah, saying, “As Yahweh lives, who made our souls, I will not put you to death, neither will I give you into the hand of these men who seek your life.” Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Yahweh, the God of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you will go out to the king of Babylon’s princes, then your soul will live, and this city will not be burned with fire. You will live, along with your house. But if you will not go out to the king of Babylon’s princes, then this city will be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they will burn it with fire, and you won’t escape out of their hand.’” Zedekiah the king said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Jews who have defected to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they mock me.” But Jeremiah said, “They won’t deliver you. Obey, I beg you, Yahweh’s voice, in that which I speak to you; so it will be well with you, and your soul will live. But if you refuse to go out, this is the word that Yahweh has shown me.”
(Jeremiah 38:14-21)
“It is for discipline that you endure. God deals with you as with children, for what son is there whom his father doesn’t discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have been made partakers, then you are illegitimate, and not children. Furthermore, we had the fathers of our flesh to chasten us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? For they indeed for a few days disciplined us as seemed good to them, but he for our profit, that we may be partakers of his holiness. All chastening seems for the present to be not joyous but grievous; yet afterward it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Therefore lift up the hands that hang down and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.”
(Hebrews 11:32-38)
The king was asking for help. For guidance. For God’s wisdom. But the message wasn’t one of deliverance. The people in Jerusalem had chosen to break covenant with God. They had chosen to remain in the city and not surrender to the Babylonians like God told them to. They were insistent on their own way. So the message was a message of judgement. Even then, the king was shown a way to get out. A way to live. It was the same way God told to the people before: surrender. Don’t fight. Don’t try to hold out. You’re being punished, take the punishment and you will live. Fight the punishment the same way you fought obedience and you’ll die. Pretty simple. But the king was too afraid of the people, especially the city leadership. He didn’t do what God said. Neither did those left in the city. They stayed their course. They did NOT obey.
God doesn’t correct us because He is a judgy God. He corrects us because He is a JUST God. He lays things out very simply. He empowers us to obey. We have to make the choice and obey, however. The ball is in our court. He will help us. He will walk with us. He will be there every second of every day speaking to us about the choices that we should be making, the words we should be saying, and the things we should be doing and thinking about. He is NOT leaving us to flounder around on our own. He is right there with us through it all. But we need to listen. We need to obey. We need to do what He shows us to do – no matter how we feel about it. Jesus is our example. Jesus didn’t WANT to suffer. He was VERY upset about it (Matthew 26:38). But Jesus ONLY did what the Father showed Him to do (John 5:19). His flesh was upset, but He exercised His nature and made it submit. He obeyed. In Him, we can do the same. We need to submit and obey. It’s the only way truly good things happen no matter what our circumstances are.
Summary
Repenting isn’t a bad thing. It also isn’t a one and done thing. We choose to go our own way frequently. Going our own way is not wise. If we aren’t speaking and acting based on our trust in Jesus, we are sinning because we are putting our foundational trust in ourselves or something else instead of God (Romans 14:23). When we choose to do what WE want instead of what GOD wants, we sin. That’s rebellion. It doesn’t matter what it’s about. Small things or large things. EVERYTHING should be based on our trust in Jesus. So, whenever we go our own way, we need to correct our thinking about it. We need to see that thing from God’s point of view. When we do, we need to repent: to change our thinking, align with His thinking, change our behaviour, and no longer do that thing that way. Take correction from Holy Spirit. He will show you how you could have trusted in Jesus in that instance. He will show you ahead of time how you can trust in Jesus in ANY instance. Submit and obey. If you fail, repent. He is there throughout the whole process. He is just and He is merciful. He is a GOOD God. Listen to Him.
Leave a Reply