Jeremiah 13:3-5 – First Audience of One
3 And the word of the Lord came to me the second time, saying, 4 “Take the sash that you acquired, which is around your waist, and arise, go to the Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole in the rock.” 5 So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the Lord commanded me.
"He who can sing songs in the night," identifies Spurgeon in a sermon by that title, "proves he has true love for Christ."
Likewise he who leaves to the Lord the discretion of whether or not to display an act of obedience before men, as the prophet does in Jeremiah 13:3-8. Jeremiah is by habit now a performer. He has been speaking to the nations, engaging the attention of his people. Even if his words of correction have at times been unwelcome, he is accustomed to getting a human reaction. He can pray in the same spirit which Jim Elliott will pray
later, asking to be a signpost, that men will turn one way or another upon beholding the Gospel in him.
It is no small thing, then, to ask such a man to sing songs in the night, or to bury the evidence of his latest obedience. Is it sufficient, such a step challenges, that the Lord knows? Does the prophet act for HIS reward even when the ratings or ravings of men aren't coming for direct or indirect reinforcement? Are his truest, purest hopes hiding in Christ the Rock as he obediently hides his wardrobe purchase there?
What of us, then? Is our fulfillment in obedience not complete unless men see that we have obeyed? Are we so quick to chase after the token of obedience that they can observe that we don't pause for the rest of the Lord's instructions, to bury the evidence for His approval alone this time? If there was any pause in Jeremiah to ponder the pointlessness of this exercise in human terms, he doesn't record it. But in a social media age where we can so easily measure our righteousness by the reaction we are likely to get from men, we might consider longer before obeying in secret.
Or, prizing a public persona known for other aspects then declaring the Lord's message, we might be quick to bury the obedience He calls us to display, reluctant to shout from the housetops the Gospel He whispers to us. It seems we can make a god either of the habit to testify publicly or the habit not to. Rare is the submitted maturity to leave what to say and when to the Lord's discretion. Rare is the patience to hear His instructions to the last detail rather than consign to certain ones only to speak and to certain ones only to reflect.
In being moved by this either/or reflex rather than the specific direction of the Lord, we miss a particular intimacy with Him. We miss experiencing Him as the sash providing both security and glory that no garment can. We miss hiding in Him as our Rock with a sense of peace more pervading than the most dramatic human reaction could provide.
"He who can sing songs in the night," identifies Spurgeon in a sermon by that title, "proves he has true love for Christ."
Likewise he who leaves to the Lord the discretion of whether or not to display an act of obedience before men, as the prophet does in Jeremiah 13:3-8. Jeremiah is by habit now a performer. He has been speaking to the nations, engaging the attention of his people. Even if his words of correction have at times been unwelcome, he is accustomed to getting a human reaction. He can pray in the same spirit which Jim Elliott will pray
later, asking to be a signpost, that men will turn one way or another upon beholding the Gospel in him.
It is no small thing, then, to ask such a man to sing songs in the night, or to bury the evidence of his latest obedience. Is it sufficient, such a step challenges, that the Lord knows? Does the prophet act for HIS reward even when the ratings or ravings of men aren't coming for direct or indirect reinforcement? Are his truest, purest hopes hiding in Christ the Rock as he obediently hides his wardrobe purchase there?
What of us, then? Is our fulfillment in obedience not complete unless men see that we have obeyed? Are we so quick to chase after the token of obedience that they can observe that we don't pause for the rest of the Lord's instructions, to bury the evidence for His approval alone this time? If there was any pause in Jeremiah to ponder the pointlessness of this exercise in human terms, he doesn't record it. But in a social media age where we can so easily measure our righteousness by the reaction we are likely to get from men, we might consider longer before obeying in secret.
Or, prizing a public persona known for other aspects then declaring the Lord's message, we might be quick to bury the obedience He calls us to display, reluctant to shout from the housetops the Gospel He whispers to us. It seems we can make a god either of the habit to testify publicly or the habit not to. Rare is the submitted maturity to leave what to say and when to the Lord's discretion. Rare is the patience to hear His instructions to the last detail rather than consign to certain ones only to speak and to certain ones only to reflect.
In being moved by this either/or reflex rather than the specific direction of the Lord, we miss a particular intimacy with Him. We miss experiencing Him as the sash providing both security and glory that no garment can. We miss hiding in Him as our Rock with a sense of peace more pervading than the most dramatic human reaction could provide.
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