Listen and Obey

Today I read Jeremiah 36:27-39:8 and Hebrews 3:16-5:1. My favorite verses are:

Jeremiah 38:17-18 Then said Jeremiah unto Zedekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel; If thou wilt assuredly go forth unto the king of Babylon’s princes, then thy soul shall live, and this city shall not be burned with fire; and thou shalt live, and thine house: 18 But if thou wilt not go forth to the king of Babylon’s princes, then shall this city be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and thou shalt not escape out of their hand.
Jeremiah 39:6-8 Then the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah in Riblah before his eyes: also the king of Babylon slew all the nobles of Judah. 7 Moreover he put out Zedekiah’s eyes, and bound him with chains, to carry him to Babylon. 8 And the Chaldeans burned the king’s house, and the houses of the people, with fire, and brake down the walls of Jerusalem.

This is a long passage of scripture, but I have very little to say about it—it is pretty self-explanatory. Jeremiah told King Zedekiah what God said: Surrender to the king of Babylon and live, or fight the king of Babylon and suffer great loss. Zedekiah chose to ignore the word from God. Verses 6-8 describe the results: His sons and nobles were killed before his eyes then his eyes were put out and the city was destroyed. God did what He said He would do. For Zedekiah it turned out very badly, but he CHOSE that path! The moral of the story is: Listen to God and do what He tells you because bad choices do not have happy endings.

Hebrews 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

This has long been one of my favorite verses. Those of us who are God’s children do not have to come cowering before God pleading for Him to hear us. We can approach him with boldness knowing that he wants what is best for us. He extends mercy to us—He forgives us for things that deserve punishment. He also gives us grace when we need it—He blesses us when we have done nothing to earn it. God is Good!