Jeremiah is Messing With Me
I’m reading Jeremiah right now, and it’s whipping my heart around in the best and worst ways.
Conviction! Hope! The character of God!
It’s such a beautiful book that’s stretching and stirring me.
To be honest, I was compelled to study Jeremiah after reading a little of Runs With Horses by Eugene Peterson. In so many different ways, I feel like I’m at a crossroads in life where it’s time to choose between comfortable and courageous, and this line from his book (about Jeremiah!) got me in the feels:
“Life is difficult, Jeremiah. Are you going to quit at the first wave of opposition? Are you going to retreat when you find that there is more to life than finding three meals a day and a dry place to sleep at night? Are you going to live cautiously or courageously? I called you to live at your best, to pursue righteousness, to sustain a drive toward excellence. It is easier to relax in the embracing arms of The Average. Easier, but not better.”
But today’s No Filter Newsletter isn’t even about that quote. Instead, it’s about this line from Jeremiah 2:33 that’s been convicting me for the past week:
How skilled you are at pursuing love! Even the worst of women can learn from your ways.
God uses Jeremiah to tell His people that they’ve run after false loves, built broken cisterns, and worshipped lesser gods for far too long. It’s time to come back to their first and most fulfilling relationship.
But when I read that verse a little over a week ago, I was so convicted about how good I am at pursuing my own lesser loves. When I want something, I’m pretty good at chasing it down. When I have an idea, I usually see it to fruition. A passion or project crosses my mind and seems worthy; I am the girl for the job.
But how often do I half-heartedly seek God and call it a dry season? How often do I spend more hours in a day on social media than I do listening to Him and then blame Him for being quiet? Why do I keep acting as if I don’t know how to chase godly things… when I’m so good at chasing almost everything else?
I don’t have a three-step plan to tidy up this piercing verse, but I do have so much hope because we get to keep growing and changing as followers of Jesus.
We get to feel conviction, let grace wash over us, and be compelled to change.
Father, may this be a week where we seek You more than any other passion.
In Jesus’ name!
Love you friends, Jess
PS: My mom, Deb Hopper, preached an amazing sermon about spiritually dry seasons this past Sunday. It will be up on the Bright City podcast sometime this week!