As the prophet Jeremiah stood amidst the smoldering ruins of his beloved city, he was overcome with grief and hopelessness. What made it even more painful is that he knew this devastation could have been avoided if the nation had only listened to God. But at his lowest point of despair, he remembered God’s faithfulness, and calling this to mind renewed his faltering hope. When your world seems to be crumbling around you, and you feel overwhelmed by the struggles and pain of life, shift your focus back to God’s goodness, trusting that He is ruling over it all and that your hope should rest in Him alone.
The Danger of Dead Religion
Jesus enters Jerusalem a few days before His crucifixion and examines the spiritual condition of the people. What He finds is a nation bustling with outward displays of religious activity, but beneath the surface, there is nothing but dead religion. He curses a fruitless fig tree as a sign of judgement against them, and then He throws the corrupt money changers out of the Temple for defiling His Father’s house. If Jesus were to examine our lives today, would He see a cold, dead heart beneath the outward religious appearance, or would He find fruit growing for His glory?
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