Today’s Reading: Jeremiah 26, 35, 36; John 20
Scripture: Jeremiah 35:8-10
8 We have obeyed everything our forefather Jonadab son of Recab commanded us. Neither we nor our wives nor our sons and daughters have ever drunk wine 9 or built houses to live in or had vineyards, fields or crops. 10 We have lived in tents and have fully obeyed everything our forefather Jonadab commanded us.
Observation: Jeremiah's attention is drawn to the clan of Recab by the Lord. And, though Jeremiah prepares and offers them wine, they refuse on the basis that their forefather, Recab, forbade them to drink wine. And the Recabites share their commitment to follow all of Recab's instructions to them.
Application: These Recabites were highly commended by the Lord for their faithfulness. But most of the people around them thought they were just plain weird. They lived in tents, they had no property, no fields, no crops -- they were nomads. What I get from this is that God can find high value in things that we would dismiss out of hand. That means we should be careful not to be hasty in judgment concerning the way that other believers are led to follow the Lord. As Paul warned against concerning "passing judgment on disputable matters": "Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind," and "stop passing judgment on one another.. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way."
Bottom Line: God has people around us who are good examples of following him. Not only should we look for such examples, we should strive to be those examples.
Prayer: Lord, help me to be as faithful to You are the Recabites were to the words of their forefather. Make me into the kind of example that You can use to show others the pathway to you.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.
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