Jeremiah Chapter 14
Come On, Show Some Kind Of Restraint!
A famine has struck the nation. God has withheld the rain and the people are living in despair.
Vs 10: Jeremiah cries out to God and says our nation has sinned, why won’t you save us? God responds, because the people love to wander from me and they show no restraint.
Vs 14-16: Even the prophets are misleading the people. Instead of speaking God’s words, they say lies. They proclaim that God will not let them die by the sword or famine. But God declares that the prophets and the people will both die by sword and famine.
Two key phrases jump out to me: 1. The people love to wander from God and 2. They show no restraint.
I confess, there are times when sin looks attractive to me. At that point I have to make a choice. Do I give in to the flesh desires and wander from God? Or do I show restraint and choose to fight against the lust of the flesh? Do I quickly isolate myself from the temptation?
Joseph, when enticed by Pharaoh’s wife to have sex with her, definitely showed restraint. He ran from the temptation immediately because he knew the longer he put himself into tempting situations, the harder it would be to say NO to sin.
It’s the same for us today. The people we hang around are the people we become like. I Corinthians 15:33 says, “Do not be misled. Bad company corrupts our good character.” Our peers are powerful influences on the choices we make. I hate to say it, but some of us need to say no to certain friends who are influencing our choices and behaviors. We have to show some kind of restraint so we don’t wander from the Lord.
