Sunday: Jeremiah 18
So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel. And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do.
Jeremiah 18:3-4 ESV
Reworked — God is forming us. The potter evaluates the progress of his artwork. Sometimes he even starts over. We serve at his pleasure. We are the clay, submitting to God’s will. How do you handle metaphors as you study God’s word? Jeremiah’s preaching speaks into our lives even today. How should we be submitting to the will of God. As He touches us, are we moved?
Monday: Jeremiah 19
Because the people have forsaken me and have profaned this place by making offerings in it to other gods whom neither they nor their fathers nor the kings of Judah have known; and because they have filled this place with the blood of innocents, and have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, which I did not command or decree, nor did it come into my mind— therefore, behold, days are coming, declares the Lord , when this place shall no more be called Topheth, or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter.
Jeremiah 19:4-6 ESV
Because of Israel’s tragic covenant violation. Jeremiah says, they have profaned the the valley by sacrificing to other gods. They have even sacrificed children and built altars to Baal. These things have brought the judgement of God upon them. These things were so severe, God says he couldn’t even thing of such horrible acts. It’s hard for us to imagine the severity but are their smaller sins that cause God to call us out and declare our guilt?
Tuesday: Jeremiah 31
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord : I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord . “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord , when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah,
Jeremiah 31:31-33 ESV
There is hope. The new covenant brings the will of God into our hearts. It has transforming power. After confronting our sin he writes a new story. God declares that their are new opportunities and new life with God after repentance and refocusing the direction of life. God says it will be like the days when Moses brought his people out of Egypt. Look at the intimacy, “…I took them by the hand…I was their husband…”
Wednesday: Lamentations 3
But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:21-23 ESV
“Steadfast love” is one of the prime descriptions of God throughout the Old Testament. God is faithful, supremely loving and caring for his people. As we call this to our minds, “we have hope.” This love is eternal, God never stops loving his people. Mercy unending, new opportunities and perspective with the love and forgiveness of God, every new day.
Thursday: Ezekiel 1
As for the likeness of their faces, each had a human face. The four had the face of a lion on the right side, the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and the four had the face of an eagle.
Ezekiel 1:10 ESV
Ezekiel is known for some amazing, apocalyptic imagery. These heavenly beings uniquely portray powerful themes throughout the scriptures. Humanity (human face), authority (lion), service (ox), and heavenly freedom (eagle). We should think metaphorically to make since of difficult passages like this. There are levels of thinking that are more reasonable than literal interpretations.
Friday: Ezekiel 37
And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God , you know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord . Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live.
Ezekiel 37:3-5 ESV
“Them bones, them bones, them dry bones…” God can make the dead live. Resurrection powerfully reminds us of God’s love for new life. God can do anything, let God surprise you with change and transformation.
Saturday: Daniel 1
Test your servants for ten days; let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then let our appearance and the appearance of the youths who eat the king’s food be observed by you, and deal with your servants according to what you see.” So he listened to them in this matter, and tested them for ten days. At the end of ten days it was seen that they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate the king’s food.
Daniel 1:12-15 ESV
The Daniel Diet. A popular method of getting closer to God by eating only water and vegetables alongside a period of prayer. Wouldn’t this be an interesting experiment? Do you think you could take 10 days and eat only veggies? Some would think it extreme, others can see the potential and possibilities of such focus.