I spent a good amount of time studying for my final on the book of acts. My brother was gone for a large part of the day. I didn't take any pictures until the very end of the day, when my brother and I took pictures of each other using two different cameras. He has a camera given to him by our aunt in china.

Devotion time questions:

Jeremiah 9

Reflect on the anguish of Jeremiah’s heart toward his people, and the tragic consequences of their sins. What does this teach me regarding the emotional burden I am to bear as a Christian living among people who are desensitized to, or deny the reality of sin?

Jeremiah sees reality as it really is: people blindly headed towards destruction. Therefore, he bore a heavy emotional burden with the knowledge of the condition his people were in.

We live in a similar situation and culture, and we cannot be complacent or indifferent towards the people around us. We need to recognize the spiritual reality of the world.

If we were to see a blind and deaf man slowly but surely walking towards the edge of a steep cliff, we would be anything but complacent or indifferent about it. We clearly understand the physical reality of what's happening, and the certain reality of what will happen if we do not take action. We would be anything but emotionally detached, but instead exert ourselves physically and invest ourselves emotionally in making sure that the man does not fall to his death.

Seeing the condition of the man, we would be responsible if we do not make an effort to save the man's life. Now, in the case of a whole nation that was heading towards destruction, it is clear

We need to see the spiritual reality of the world and those around us in the same way. I still need to develop a lot in this regard, as I still find myself seeing the world differently than the way I just described.

Reflect on Jeremiah’s yearning to go away to the desert, far away from his people. Yet, of course, he must stay right in their midst to continue to confront them about their sins with God’s words. What lesson is here about the lonely task, and the difficulties of the role of representing God to the people?

Representing God to the people of the world is not an easy and comfortable job, but a necessary and important one. As many people will reject and hate God, so they will also reject the ones that God sends to them. Looking at the lives and deaths of Christ, the prophets, missionaries, and important Christian figures in history, it is clear that confronting people about God is not a "popular" or "healthy" thing to do.

How can Jeremiah’s depth of anguish, and even the desire to get far away from his people, help give me perspective as a fellow prophet, called to struggle to communicate God’s heart to the people in my life?

His calling consumed him, and was the centerpiece of his life. Jeremiah did not compartmentalize his faith, but was led entirely by it. If his faith was simply a single aspect of his life among many, it would not have led to the depth of the anguish he experienced, and would not cause him to yearn to get far away from the people. As Christians with the same responsibility as Jeremiah, we need to keep our eyes focused on the purposes God has given us.

Notice that Jeremiah once again points out deception, and wholesale absence of truth, as one of the key sins of Judean society. How does failure to acknowledge God lead to a life of deception?

Failure to acknowledge God means disregarding the moral laws he has set for the world, and setting yourself as the sole controlled and benefactor of your actions. With such a mindset, personal desires and ambitions triumph over everything else, and deception is simply a way to obtain what is desired.

What are the manifestations of a society where “it is not by truth that they triumph in the land”? What happens to a community where truth is no longer upheld? How central is truth in this community of faith that I am part of?

In this kind of society, brother will betray brother, and friend will betray friend. Everyone will seek only their own benefit, and become individualistic in their personal pursuits of happiness. If a community abandons truth, then it will certainly cease to be a community at all. Therefore, truth is a keystone to any community of faith, including the one I am a part of.

Reflect on James 3:3-6 on the power of the tongue. Am I guilty of teaching my tongue to lie?

Thoughts omitted here.

What is the heart of God as he has to bring punishment upon his people?

His heart towards his people is like that of a parent towards his child. He corrects them because they are his, and does not destroy them as though they were not. Despite the horrors of their destruction, God's heart is a heart of live, and he desires to correct and reform them.

When dross cannot be removed from a precious metal by any other means, it must be refined in the fire.

Why does God have to punish the Judeans? What about God’s love requires that this be the outcome?

The King of kings never makes war thus upon his own subjects but when they treacherously depart from him and rebel against him, and it has become necessary by this means to chastise their rebellion and reduce them to their allegiance; and they themselves shall at length acknowledge that he is just in all that is brought upon them.
Matthew Henry

Why does God say “call for the wailing women” and “send for the most skillful of them” (Ecclesiastes 7:1-4)?

It shows how serious the condition of the people was. The wailing women were not genuinely wailing, but women whose occupation it was to weep and wail. These women were hired to join with the true mourners at funerals and other somber occasions. Though the situation was serious enough to merit true wailing from all the people, they did not find it in themselves to do this, and God was expressing how serious the situation was.

Why does v.23 necessarily follow v.21?

In the face of judgement from God, the people could boast about nothing. Their wisdom could not help them avoid the judgement, their strength could not help protect themselves from it, and all their riches could not repay their debt towards God. Though they had power in themselves to turn to God, they refused to do it and instead continued to trust in these worthless things.

Am I living a wise life according to this passage? Am I pursuing God or am I pursuing human wisdom, strength and riches?

Thoughts omitted here.