August 12, 2012, Bible Studies for Life
Let Your Heart Be Broken
Jeremiah 8:4-13, 18 ? 9:1
This lesson is about joining God in His concern for the moral and spiritual condition of people. People who reject God and live sinful lives deceive themselves by thinking there will be no consequences. The people of Judah knew what they were doing by worshiping idols in the house of God, but they did it anyway. They offered their children up as sacrifices to idols – a practice that became so devastating that the place was called the Valley of Slaughter (Jeremiah 7:31-32).
Our own nation has also turned away from God. There is no repentance in the hearts of people in this country toward God. Our Scripture passage from Jeremiah says that our hearts should be broken for our sinfulness and we should cry out to God for repentance, for our nation and for us individually.
In Jeremiah 8:4-7, there are four rhetorical questions that the prophet asked in order to call attention to the people’s sinful and unnatural behavior. Judah had turned away from God and refused to repent and return to Him. Even in our country today, we see sinful behavior as normal, and in some cases the church has accepted as normal and natural certain lifestyles contrary to God’s righteous standards. God’s people must cling to biblical truth concerning right and wrong, regardless of what the culture says.
Jeremiah’s heart was broken, and he called on the people of Judah to repent because judgment was coming both on the people and on their leaders. The people felt no guilt for their sins and expressed false confidence in their wisdom.
The same could be said for today. We need to recognize that rejecting God’s Word and feeling no guilt or shame over sinful behavior will bring the judgment of God. As followers of Christ, we have a responsibility to hold ourselves and our spiritual leaders to the Word of God. As parents, we are leaders in our homes and must accept responsibility for the moral and spiritual development of our children.
Jeremiah 8:18-9:1 points out the broken-heartedness of Jeremiah over the peoples’ spiritual condition. Jeremiah is often called “the weeping prophet.” As we look at the lost world around us, do our hearts break for people who do not know Christ? Do we grieve when we see the devastating effects of sin in peoples’ lives?
Only when we are burdened and broken-hearted over peoples’ spiritual needs will we reach out to them. Let us ask God to break our hearts over the spiritual needs of a world that does not know Him.
Dinkins– Lessons in the BSL series for the summer quarter are being written by David Dinkins, pastor of First Baptist Church, Kingstree, and former director of missions.