3 “These twenty-three years, from the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, until this day, the Word of the Lord has come to me. And I have spoken to you again and again, but you have not listened.
7 “But you would not listen to me,” says the Lord. “You made me furious by worshiping idols you made with your own hands, bringing on yourselves all the disasters you now suffer.
It is common in our culture to view the oppressed through the eyes of the past. What I mean is that when someone is angry about life or has an addiction, we often hear someone say that that person must have had a bad home life and that is the reason for his shortcomings or anger issues, so to speak. Some of that may be true, but I prescribe to the notion of your own bootstraps. You can pull yourself up and out of your past by your own bootstraps. We all need some counseling from time to time to learn how to deal with the past in our lives, but I believe it is wrong to blame the past when the choices we make are completely our own.
When I get to heaven, I am going to look up Jeremiah and ask him just how he did it. How did he constantly tell the Israelites what the Lord was speaking and deal with being forever ignored and unheard? Verse three tells us that Jeremiah had been giving the people warnings from the Lord for twenty-three years. Twenty-three years of the Lord telling him to “say this to the people,” and year after year, seeing everyone just ignore him. It was common for the kings of Israel not to like the prophets because they always spoke out against how things were, against how the kings were not commanding the people to obey the Lord and instead serving other gods and doing detestable things like prostitution and sacrificing babies. The Lord made sure that His prophets were heard so the notion of “I didn’t know” was not a scapegoat. They all knew exactly what they were doing. When the king and all his royal people are not serving the Lord, the trickle-down effect of not serving the Lord becomes what the people do.
Isaiah 1:23 says, “Your rulers are rebels and companions of thieves; everyone loves a bribe and chases after rewards. They do not defend the orphan, nor does the widow’s plea come before them.” Sometimes you can throw out the bad apple, but when you neglect to take out the rottenness, it spreads to all the other apples. And the worst thing of all is when you know you have brought this upon yourself.
You may be in a position similar to Jeremiah. You may have told your friend time and time again to stop it, but he or she just ignores you. Or you might be the one ignoring all the warning signs—the internet surfing, the language, the bad habits, and not to forget those friends who are nothing less than a companion of fools, and you choose to hang around them. You might be the one who has been “hearing it” for years and refuses to listen. The Lord says that “you have brought harm to yourselves.” Just like when your boyfriend spouts off something that should have never been said out loud or in public, and he is paying the price from his girlfriend that time.
Today, realize you are in control of your own life. You have been given total control of your actions, your thoughts, your habits, and nearly everything else. Very few times can we ever say that nothing is our fault because, for the most part, it always is. We read Jeremiah and realize that the Lord has been talking to us all the time, and He desires for us to come home, away from the mess, and follow Jesus. I cannot say that once you turn your life over to the Lord, everything will be rosy. I can promise you that the Lord is an ever-present help in times of need to those who call on His name (Psalm 46:1).
So if you are the one who just keeps ignoring the calling of the Lord, realize you can turn around and follow the Lord before you create a mess even larger than the one you are in. Or if you are the one who has been praying for someone for a long time, “just keep praying.” God is the only one who can open those doors so that someone can speak Jesus to them again and again until they heed the calling. Remember that life as you know it is your fault or your blessing from the Lord—the choice is yours. Maybe the Lord is calling you out like Jeremiah was. It is time to listen and obey!
Prayer: Father, this is a hard truth to learn. I pray that we remember we have choices every day that we must take. I pray that we choose life over death, love over hate, and responsibility over blaming. I pray that we never turn a deaf ear to Your calling or neglect Your counsel. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Let It Go 
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