Mon.’s Devo - Time Is Up

Read Jeremiah 12-15
Jeremiah started out with this question: “Why are the wicked so prosperous?” They seemed happy, stable, and prosperous. They talked about God but he was not in their hearts. God answered his question with a promise. He promised to take care of Jeremiah and that one day these evil people would come to him and ask him to pray for them because they would be in trouble and distress.
Everyone can identify with Jeremiah. One moment he is wishing he had never been born and wants to die and the next he is begging God to let him live a long life! How fickle we are in the midst of trials. Jeremiah was living in a very unstable time. Chaos and sin was everywhere and God had had enough. They were about to harvest a crop of shame…in other words, they were about to be sorry they had turned away from God. Their rebellion had caught up with them.
God does in the physical world things that mirror what is going on in the spirit. There was a spiritual drought. People didn’t even care what the law said. Most of them didn’t even know what it said. So God sent them a physical drought. There was no rain which caused their business, lifestyles and harvests to grind to a halt. They expected God to come to their rescue and save the day for his name sake and his own reputation since they were known as his children. But, God told them that because they loved their sin so much and didn’t want to be close to him, he no longer considered them his people. Instead He would punish them for their sins. He told Jeremiah that he was not to pray for the people or fast for them; their time was up. That must have been a slap in their faces. Jeremiah reminded God that he didn’t join in their sin and God knew this. He promised Jeremiah that he would be protected and taken care of.
This is a great reminder to us who live in the land of grace. God is still disciplines and will put up with our sin for just so long.
Lord, help us to repent for ourselves and our nation before it is too late for us. Expose evil so it can be dealt with and judged. Remember your people who have stayed true to You in the midst of the times we are living in and keep us safe.