Saturday, May 8, 2021

The Prison of Pride and Pleasure Seeking.

 By:  Dale Weckbacher

 

Text:  Jeremiah 13

 

Jeremiah 13:9-10

“Thus says the Lord: Even so will I spoil the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. 10 This evil people, who refuse to hear my words, who stubbornly follow their own heart and have gone after other gods to serve them and worship them, shall be like this loincloth, which is good for nothing.

(ESV)

 

When we picture a prison in our mind, we usually picture a penitentiary where the state locks up criminals serving a sentence for a crime but there can also be emotional prisons that prevent one from living a full life.  Biblically, we are all under a death sentence for sin in our lives but thankfully can have redemption through Jesus Christ (Romans 3:23, 5:8, 6:23; 10:9-10).  There is also the prison of worshipping false gods or idols in our lives and ignoring the consequences of worship of these created things that will ultimately disappoint us.  Israel and Judah are about to discover that the false gods of Baal they have been worshipping will be of little help when invaded from the north and that redemption is only possible through returning to God. 

 

In Jeremiah 13, we once again see the graciousness of God demonstrated as He offers another opportunity for Israel and Judah to receive redemption by returning to God.  God uses two illustrations to point out the sins of the people with the consequences of these sins being invasion from the north and exile to a foreign land.  This passage points out,

 

1)      Pride (Jeremiah 13:1-11) – Proverbs 16:18 reminds us that pride precedes destruction, but we can mistake pride for confidence.  Pride that causes one to believe they no longer need to seek Godly wisdom from the Word of God, or a haughty spirit, is a gateway to destruction and something to avoid.  However, a fear of pride can lead one to lack confidence, paralyzing them from accomplishing anything with their life.  The confidence of God’s people is in Christ Jesus and from this confidence, God’s people can boldly carry out whatever God has for them to do with confidence doing all for the glory of God.  The loincloth illustration in Jeremiah 13:1-11 illustrates what occurs when one becomes detached from the worship of God and full of selfish pride with them becoming good for nothing.  We must not become so earthly-minded that we are no good spiritually. 

2)      Pleasure seeking (Jeremiah 13:12-14) – Proverbs 20:1 equates wine with brawling or violence that can lead people astray.  For those not choosing to take their cares of life to God, wine or alcohol can also be a means of escape from the stresses of life.  However, this escape is only temporary for once the effect of the alcohol wears off, the problems are still there.  The lord points out the drunkenness of all in Israel and Judah from the kings and priests to the inhabitants of Jerusalem (Jeremiah 13:13).  It appears the people are choosing the drunken pleasure of alcohol to forget the inevitable destruction and exile coming due to their disobedience and refusal to repent of their sins. 

3)      Prison of exile (Jeremiah 13:15-27) – Therefore, God has no choice but to be true to His word and follow through with sending His people into exile from the land (Deuteronomy 28:15-68). 

 

The people of Israel, people once led by King David, a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14) have become detached from God and face invasion from the north and exile (Jeremiah 13:20).  God uses the illustration of a loincloth to illustrate how a loin cloth detached from the one wearing it and hidden in the cleft of a rock, becomes useless and good for nothing (Jeremiah 13:1-7).  God uses this illustration to show how Israel and Judah’s pride has led to their detachment from God and becoming useless and good for nothing (Jeremiah 13:8-12).  The illustration of the wine jars indicates their preoccupation with seeking pleasure to escape from the consequences of their sin instead of repentance and turning back to God (Jeremiah 13:12-14). 

 

Like Israel and Judah, believers in Christ and the Church can become detached from their missional focus of spreading the Gospel and making Disciples and full of pride and seeking the pleasure of good feelings.  Pride in facilities and programs can move the Church away from the use of the facilities and programs to bring people to Christ to prideful pointing to the facilities and programs as objects of spiritual success.  Pastors can become focused on attendance and contribution numbers instead of trusting God with the numbers and water down their message so as not to offend anyone.  The Gospel and Word of God are transformative and can be offensive.  A minister of the Word who becomes concerned with losing attendance and contributions due to offending someone robs the flock of biblical truth bringing loss of conformity to the world and transformation to people’s lives (Romans 12:2). 

 

Perhaps you are reading this and have never made a profession of faith in Jesus as your savior and still live in the prison of your sins.  If that is you, there is good news for redemption from sin is available to anyone choosing to profess their belief in Jesus as their savior (John 3:16; Romans 10:9-10).  There is no need to prepare or become right with God before making this profession for salvation is by grace and not our works (Ephesians 2:8-9).  I invite you to pray with me now and make this profession of faith,

 

Dear Lord Jesus, I know I have sinned (Romans 3:23) and know that the penalty for my sin is death (Romans 6:23).  I ask you to forgive me of my sin and cleanse me as you promise in your Word (1 John 1:9).  I believe you died, spent three days in the grave, and resurrected from the dead and now declare you Lord of my life.

 

My prayer is that all reading this would abandon selfish pride and pleasure-seeking in their lives and instead live a life that gives glory to God for that is the greatest joy one can achieve in life.  A world in chaos must see God’s people serving God with confidence and hope, giving them hope.  May God bless everyone reading this post. 

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