August 3

Jeremiah 26

Jeremiah faces charges.

King Josiah has died and so has his good influence over Judah. The people fell back into sin and unfaithfulness. Because of their sin, God commanded Jeremiah to warn them of a coming disaster if they did not repent. Because of God's everlasting love, He wanted to give the people a chance to come back to Him.

Jeremiah had to have known that this task was not going to be easy. He had to have known that the people would not take his message from God to heart. But he still obeyed God without question. When the officials of Judah wanted him to face charges and be killed for prophesying against the city, Jeremiah replied by saying, "... truth of the Lord has sent me to you to speak all these words in your hearing." Despite being persecuted, he still stood firmly on God's truth.

In My Utmost for His Highest, Oswald Chambers wrote about Jesus' unfailing obedience and devotion to the Father's commands:
"Jerusalem, in the life of our Lord, represents the place where He reached the culmination of His Father's will. Jesus said, 'I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me' (John 5:30). Seeking to do 'the will of the Father' was the one dominating concern throughout our Lord's life. And whatever He encountered along the way, whether joy or sorrow, success or failure, He was never deterred from that purpose. '... He steadfastly set His face to go to
Jerusalem...' (Luke 9:51). The greatest thing for us to remember is that we go up to Jerusalem to fulfill God's purpose, not our own."

We are blessed to have the examples of not only Jeremiah, but also Jesus Christ. Following God's will and commands should always be our number one priority. It is more important to please God than it is to please others or ourselves.