Search Me, Oh God
BRD REFLECTIONS
Jeremiah 7:1-29 and Psalm 9 (NIV)
(Teo Kheng Hwa, Assistant Pastoral Care Zone 1 Leader, Small Group Ministry)
READ:
Jeremiah 7:1-29 (NIV)
OBSERVE:
God’s warnings and exhortations message to Judah through Prophet Jeremiah.
This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord (Jeremiah 7:1). It began with warnings in vv3, 4 and 8, 3 Reform your ways and your actions, …. 4, 8 Do not trust in deceptive words…’
The Lord then brought charges against Judah: 9 “‘Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known, 10 and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name, and say, “We are safe”.
But I have been watching! declares the Lord in verse 11.
The Lord has only one command for Judah: 23 Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in obedience to all I command you, that it may go well with you. 24 But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts. They went backward and not forward….. 26 But they did not listen to me or pay attention. They were stiff-necked and did more evil than their ancestors.’
APPLY:
The Lord who watches, requires only one thing from me – obedience to all that He commands. Yet it is not an easy command to follow. Paul puts it so correctly in Galatians 5:17, ‘For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh.’
God, help me not be stiff-necked. Search me and reveal to me areas of my life that You want me to change so that my life may please and glorify You.
God, when have I trusted in deceptive words? Is it the self-edifying whispers from within, or the shouts from the world’s values? Help me, Holy Spirit, to discern the truth that comes from the living word of God.
DO:
I will quieten my heart and mind to sing: Search me, O God, and know my heart today; Try me, O Savior, know my thoughts, I pray. See if there be some wicked way in me; Cleanse me from every sin and set me free.
I remember Pastor Raymond Fong’s teaching from Romans 3, to humbly accept God’s divine diagnosis and gratefully receive His gift of grace daily – Made right by grace, to walk right in faith.
PRAY:
Father God, I thank you for your mercy and grace. They are new every day. As I humbly come before your throne of grace, reveal any offensive ways in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
