Today was my last day of studying hard before my big final tomorrow. I went to princeton review pretty early in the day, and stayed there until a little before midnight. Thus, the only pictures I could get were of things that I could see from the window of the room. I've had a lot of epiphanies while studying lately.

I had leftover naan and curry for all three meals today, bringing it in the morning and finishing the naan throughout the day until evening. I also brought along a large bottle of water, so I pretty much didn't need to go anywhere today.

Devotion time questions:

Jeremiah 14

Reflect on what the drought produced in the people of Judah. What does this reveal about human nature?

The drought produces a confession of sins and a pleading for God to intervene. They think God is obligated to deliver them from their troubles, even though they had a history of rejecting God when things were going well. Human nature turns to God when trouble comes up, as seen in our nation today when disasters strike, but turn from God when life seems to be going well and there isn't an apparent "need" for God.

Reflect on the role that a comfortable, trouble-free life has on a person’s sense of dependence and need for God. To what extent might my relatively comfortable life dull my sense of personal frailty as a creature in need of God’s provision?

This can be analogized to a stubborn student driver who is taking a driving lesson with a driving instructor in the passenger seat. The student is prideful and rejects the words of instruction from the instructor, instead choosing to drive with the direction, speed, and decisions of their own choosing. However, if the student suddenly realizes he is hurdling towards danger and does not know how to correct the situation, he will desperately call upon the instructor for his own benefit, not out of true humility, but simply because he needs the instructor in a situation that is beyond his control.

Living a relatively comfortable and trouble-free life, it's easy for me to feel like I can tackle the small troubles in life on my own, without God. Even when other people around the world are dealing with starvation, sicknesses, famine, wars, and other troubles, I can become desensitized to how much I need God because things like final exams seem so manageable without him. I need to remember to trust in God for all things, no matter how big or small, in order to not turn my back on him when things seem to be going well like the Israelites did in Jeremiah's day.

Why would prophets prophesy groundlessly that no calamity will come?

It is always easier to speak good news than bad, and the false prophets were flattering the people by saying exactly what they wanted to hear: that their actions were acceptable to God and that they could continue down the sinful path from which Jeremiah was pleading with them to flee.

When I am faced with a situation of giving advice, or speaking into some one's life, to what extent am I swayed by a desire to comfort and speak only optimistic, encouraging-sounding words?

I need to be very careful not to lead people astray with words that flatter but are contrary to God's will. I know it's much easier to always say what people want to hear, but it's more important to speak what God wants me to speak, and to speak words that are meaningful (even if they're hard to say and hear), not words that are pleasant to the ears but damaging to the soul.

The prophets whom God had not sent, appointed or spoken to apparently gave the message that God’s judgment would not come, that threats of God’s action were untrue—in other words, that God’s perspective and response need not be seriously regarded at all. Who are the prophets today who speak authoritatively such messages to me, which amounts to just “false visions, divinations, idolatries and the delusions of their own minds”?

Good examples are the number of prominent figures today who argue intensely against the existence of God, which implies many other things, including no absolute moral law. Without an absolute moral law, there can be no such thing as judgement for breaking this moral law, and therefore the views that they so aggressively preach speak not only against God, but against his judgement.

Atheistic views not only reject the existence of God, but sets humans up as the current epitome of the evolutionary process; supreme rulers of the universe as we know it.

Reflect on the words of anguish and sorrow God feels toward the judgment that will come to the people of Judah. Why does God punish if he knows that he will feel such a deep sorrow?

Because he is just and for the good of his people. Just as parents punish their children sorrowfully in order to correct them and lead them, God must punish his people when they severely go astray. However, God was merciful towards his people, and did not punish them immediately as their sins deserved, but warned them many times through many prophets, yet they did not heed his warnings to repent and continued down their own path towards destruction.

What does this tell me about God’s character and values?

God is absolutely just, absolutely loving, and absolutely good. He loves us, but cannot tolerate sinfulness, so he must treat us as our sins deserve if we walk astray.