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LL in obedience to God, Jeremiah
took a long cloth, and wore it for a while. Then, he went and buried that same
cloth under a rock on the wet banks of the Euphrates River. After a time, he
returned & retrieved it. It was rotten & ruined. But it was an
illustration for Jeremiah to use in a sermon to Israel (vs. 15).
Now, however Jeremiah wore his
girdle, he wore it close to his body. This surely represented the closeness of
Israel to God (vs. 11). Like the rite of circumcision for the Jews, this
illustration showed that God had willingly brought His elect people into a very
intimate position of privilege; knowing Him and His approving presence. Sadly,
they had let it go to their head. We do that, don't we? God gives us some
extravagant gift, and we in turn abuse it.
Not you maybe, but I'm guilty. He saved me from sin, yet I sin. He
shared His love with me, yet I often withhold it from others. He adopted me
into His family, and I promptly look with contempt at the Devil's children, as
if I was a natural born son of God. In short, I too am guilty of foolish and
blasphemous pride. Judah was.
The solution for pride is shame (vs.
26). Our pride can be expunged by a clear view of the shame that Christ endured
on the cross. Or, it can be smashed under the heavy hand of God's glorious
wrath in the day of judgment. Either way, all of our pride must be marred. It
must die and fall away. It stands directly in God's way (John 15:5).
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