Verse of the Day 6/17

Verse of the Day 6/17

Jeremiah 7:23-24 Instead, I told them, "If you listen to me and do what I tell you, I will be your God, you will be my people, and all will go well for you." ²⁴ But your ancestors refused to listen. They were stubborn, and whenever I wanted them to go one way, they always went the other.    Contemporary English Version (CEV)

We considered the other day how "WWJD" (what would Jesus do) should be changed to WDJD (what did Jesus do) and that if we applied that to our lives things would go better for us and the world around us.  We have the opportunity every day to listen to what God tells us in His Word and we have the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John to show us what Jesus did and how he called for us to live.

The ESV version (below) in verse 23 states that the qualifier for all will be well for you is to "walk in all the way" that God tells us.  It is not a matter of choosing.  We don't have a cafeteria style faith where we pick and choose what best suits us for today according to our own spiritual appetite.  We are called to "walk by faith".  The attitude should be more like "I'll walk, you lead".  We don't have to sit back and wait for a revelation from God before heading out for the day.  He'll bring the opportunities to us.  We must be willing to listen for His promptings in the situations that come our way. 

All too often for many of us God tells us one thing and we go the other way; a lot like Jonah.  Many times we head the other direction, because like Jonah we "panic".  Our life often referred to as a Christian as a walk and we are to walk by faith.  Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones said, "Faith is a refusal to panic.  Do you like that sort of definition of faith?  Does that seem to be too earthly and not sufficiently spiritual?  It is of the very essence of faith.  Faith is a refusal to panic, come what may."  Saying "I'll walk, you lead" also sounds earthy but when acted out it looks very much like waling by faith, refusing to panic.

--   In Christ,  Mike    Folllow the Verse of the Day blog at http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com  Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins,  in accordance with the riches of God's grace.  NIV    

Jeremiah 7:21-26 English Standard Version (ESV)

²¹ Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: "Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices, and eat the flesh. ²² For in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak to your fathers or command them concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. ²³ But this command I gave them: 'Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. And walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.' ²⁴ But they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and the stubbornness of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward. ²⁵ From the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt to this day, I have persistently sent all my servants the prophets to them, day after day. ²⁶ Yet they did not listen to me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck. They did worse than their fathers.