I studied at main stacks for most of the afternoon before going to winterfest at clark kerr with the guys for dinner. Winterfest is an event where the DC serves really, really good food instead of its normal dinners. There was prime rib, salmon steaks, and a chocolate fountain desert. All of us had a tasty good time.

In the evening we went to princeton review again to study (like last night).

Devotion time questions:

Jeremiah 7

Note that this message is for those who are coming through the gates of the house of the Lord “to worship the Lord.” What is behind the mentality of the people who invoked God’s protection while ignoring their own unethical conduct?

Matthew Henry says that their self deceit arose from vanity. When confronted with their personal sinfulness, the people tried to appeal to the fact that they had the temple of the LORD among them. Henry also says, "It is common for those that are furthest from God to boast themselves most of their being near to the church."

This is applicable for us in modern times, because it is still easy to appeal to membership in a strong and faithful church in order to hide the reality of secret sinfulness. Being parts of a strong body does not give Christians a licence to sin or an impenetrable protection against it.

Reflect on the things that grieved God about the people. Why does proper worship of God always lead to ethical living?

God was grieved that his people were treating each other and outsiders unjustly. Those who worship God must seek to please him, since if God was not pleased, anything we do for him would serve no purpose. (e.g. Cain made a sacrifice to God but God did not look upon it with favor). Therefore, if we are seeking to please God, we must behave in the way he expects of us, and he expects us to treat one another justly, just as he is just.

Reflect on the statement “But I have been watching!” To what extent am I living with this reality?

Although we can succeed in hiding things from other people and deceiving them with lies, the truth is never hidden from God. If I am firmly convinced of this reality, then my life needs to be lived in a way that reflects it.

Thoughts omitted here.

Reflect on the words of v. 13. To what extent is it true in my life that God spoke to me “again and again”? What has been my response to God’s words?

Thoughts omitted here.

Reflect on the fact that God is about to allow the temple itself to be destroyed, just as he had allowed Shiloh (another place associated with the worship of God) to be destroyed as a result of people’s sins. What does this show about what God does and does not value?

The people put their trust in the temple itself and not in God, thus treating it as an idol that would endure and protect them despite their sins. However, it is clear that the temple itself is insignificant to God compared to the unaddressed sinfulness of his peoples' hearts. He was quick to do away with the temple that his people had trusted blindly, for a grand temple is not what God values.

This shows that our hearts are so much more important to God than any physical thing we can offer him. He would choose a heart that is right towards him over the grandest of temples and the most costly sacrifices.

Reflect on v. 19 and the words from v. 6 “… follow other gods to your own harm.” Given that following other gods actually brings harm to the people themselves, what can I learn about the loving purpose behind God’s punishment of the people?

We know in retrospect by looking at history that God indeeds punishes his people severely for their sins, but afterwards calls them back from the lands to which they were exiled. Just as a parent would punish and correct a child who had gone astray, God lovingly seeks to draw us back to him after such correction.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28

What is God’s frustration expressed in this passage? Can I relate to his frustration?

Though he seeks good for his people, they reject him, refuse to listen to him, and continue in their wicked ways. He provided them with ample opportunities to repent and return to him, but they did not appreciate all the mercy and patience he showed towards them, instead offending him and committing crimes against him all the more. The people's hardened hearts towards God caused their own destruction.

Thoughts omitted here.

What can I learn from the fact that despite God disclosing to Jeremiah that the people won’t listen, that he still goes and speaks to them?

We need to be obedient to God's will even if it seems fruitless to our own understanding. Although Jeremiah knows that his message will not cause the people to turn to God, he is obedient in carrying out God's will. He submits himself to being God's instrument, and does not presume to know more or understand more than God.

Reflect on the statement, “This is the nation that has not obeyed the LORD its God or responded to correction. Truth has perished; it has vanished from their lips.” What is my relationship to truth? What is my attitude regarding obedience to God?

Thoughts omitted here.

What did the people of Judah bring upon themselves as they continue to do evil and “set up their detestable idols in the house that bears [God’s] Name?”

Their punishment was limited not to physical destruction, but the misery of being forsaken by God. By choosing to reject God and replace him with false idols, they received the resulting reality of life without God.

What is God’s warning for me in this passage?

I need to be careful where I place my trust. It must be in God alone, and not in a church, a community, or worldly idols. Though things such as a church or Christian community are beneficial and essential, we cannot depend on them to counteract an inwardly or privately sinful life. We must place our trust in God alone and nothing else.