Rēad to Read …Again
Daily Reading: Jeremiah 4-6
Jeremiah 6:16
Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.
“If you always do what you always did, you’ll always get what you always got.” That was the title of the message Dr. B.G. Buchanan preached at the Friendly Lane Baptist Church some twenty years ago. The text is not remembered, but in respect to him and in light of the current drift of our nation that title is borrowed for today’s devotion. In the chapters read today Jeremiah continues the Lord’s indictment against His nation. In it there are four implications.
The first is that it is the Lord speaking to Israel, not just a man named Jeremiah. He, the Lord God, knows all that is to befall Israel, and He is using a mere man to communicate all about it to His people. God always warns. God always sends a man to warn others of His next judgement. As a young boy in the sixties I remember seeing a cartoon in a newspaper that strikes home every time I think about it. The picture was of an empty barber shop with the barber standing in the doorway. His arms are crossed, in one hand is the comb, in the other the clippers. Walking on the sidewalk outside the barber shop are many long-haired men, hippies they were called then, with their long stringy hair. There the barber was, ready and able to cut their hair, but the hippies would not allow him to do so. On the barber’s face was a resigned disappointment and sadness all communicated by the artist’s hand. There are many pastors standing in the doorway of their churches watching the multitudes pass by not wanting that which they had to give them. Which largely boils down to a warning from God.
Not only did God communicate to Israel, but He also told them specifically that which they should do. Stand in His ways, seek the old paths (for they are good), and walk in them. These are not difficult. They knew of His ways. They could easily find the old paths, and they had the ability to walk in them. After years and years of preaching, working with people, and studying the Bible many people have come to the same conclusion. It is not the part of the Bible that individuals do not understand that they reject. It is the part they do understand, yet do not want to obey that gives them trouble. Probably no-one puts aside the Bible because it teaches one to love their neighbor, but to humble oneself, that has sidetracked many millions.
Then consider God gives promises to those who accept and live in light of His warning and remedy. They will find rest for their souls. In Jeremiah’s day this is probably speaking about the total overthrow of the nation and the unrest that would follow. Like Ninevah of old they could have repented and turned back to the Lord as a nation and been spared. Many want God’s promises but are unwilling to fulfill the conditions to obtain the promise. For example, consider Matthew 11:28. Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. The condition to obtain His rest is to come unto Him. Many still are suffering hard labor and the heavy burden of sin simply because they will not come to Him.
Lastly, the people chose. They chose poorly. …But they said, We will not walk therein. Every person who hears a preacher preach God’s truth directly from His Word and rejects it has the same spirit as those in Jeremiah’s day. These are like the citizens of the certain nobleman in Luke 19. Of these citizens God’s Word proclaims: But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us. Luke 19:14. Oh, they may not say those words with their tongues, for they know better, but they say it with their feet. Just like those needing a haircut in that cartoon from the sixties. They just pass on by.
Dr. Buchanan was right. If we always do what we always did, we will always get what we always got.
Dr. William T. Howe
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