the Third Week after Easter
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Daily Devotionals
Our Daily Homily - Volume 3
Jeremiah 42:6—We will obey the voice of the Lord our God, to whom we send thee.
While the people said this with their lips, they had already set their faces to go into the land of Egypt (Jeremiah 42:15; Jeremiah 42:17). It is useless to profess our desire to know God’s will, while in our secret heart we are determined to follow a certain course, come what may. Indeed it is worse than useless; it is blasphemous. How often do believers ask for prayer that their course may be made clear, when in point of fact they have already decided on it, and are secretly hoping to turn God to their own side!
But what a solemn responsibility devolves on those who are sent to and fro between God and man, as Jeremiah was. He realized that he was sent by the people unto the Lord, and that he was sent back again by the Lord unto the people (Jeremiah 42:21). He knew, too, that their faces were set on having their own evil way. But he never flinched from declaring the will of God, nor turned to the right or left, to curry favor from man. By nature very timid and sensitive, see how God made him a defenced city, an iron pillar, and brazen walls. Verily he stood in God’s council, and caused the people to hear his words. What a contrast to the false prophets of Jeremiah 23:1-40!
Compare this statement concerning Gerhard Tersteegen: "His service was always marked by a diffident and retiring spirit, though ever by a courageous valour for the truth. It is recorded that on one occasion, in going with a friend to a meeting where he was expected to give an address, he said, ‘I would rather hide myself from all the world than let myself be seen and heard.’ But he never swerved a hairbreadth when the honor of God and the testimony of the truth was concerned."
