You can say that again!

As parents it seems that we often have to repeat ourselves (I don’t think it’s because our children have hearing problems; it’s just that they aren’t listening). Just this morning I said to Greg, “There’s a dollar waiting for you in your room.” He turned around and turned off his bedroom lights; he was suddenly reminded that I had told him that if he continued to leave his lights on I would charge him a dollar. Repetition helped him to do what I had asked and turn the lights off when he leaves his room (we’ll see what happens now tomorrow).

God instructed Jeremiah to write on a scroll the message given to him by the Lord. When the scroll was completed it was read in the temple before the officials and then read before Jehoiakim the king. Jehoiakim tore the scroll and threw it into the fire.

Now I’m sure that if God had wanted He could have caused the scroll not to be harmed by the fire, or the smoke could have risen and stained the walls with the writing on the scroll. Nothing is impossible for God. But God let the scroll be consumed by the flames. But this was not an end of the Word spoken by the Lord to Jeremiah.

• Then Jeremiah took another scroll and dictated again to his secretary Baruch. He wrote everything that had been on the scroll King Jehoiakim had burned in the fire. Only this time, he added much more!
  Jeremiah 36:32 (NLT)

Jeremiah not only had the message written again; the Word of the Lord was emphasized by saying the same thing in different ways. God’s Word could not be destroyed by the fire. God’s Word is eternal; it would remain regardless of any man’s response to it.

Some people today will still try to discredit God’s Word or say it is irreverent to our lives because it is full of errors and cannot be trusted. Still they cannot destroy the Word of God; it remains regardless of their attempts to silence it (see Psalm 119:89).

But what about us who believe in God’s Word? We may not burn it in a fire or try to discredit it, but when we ignore it or deliberately disobey what God says it’s just like we did. I’m glad God is willing to repeat Himself; that when I’m not listening the Holy Spirit will patiently tell me again and again.

God’s Word is to be heard and obeyed; are you listening?