Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together: a great company shall return thither. They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn. | ||
| Jeremiah 31:8-9 | ||
| Both at the beginning of their long history with idolatry and at the end, neither the Lord’s love nor His plan for His people wavered. Thus, He would make a way for them back to Him. The only thing that could prevent this would be their own hesitancy. “Follow Me,” Jesus said. “Let me first bury my father,” came the reply. “Follow Me,” Jesus said. “Let me first say good-bye,” answered another (Luke 9:59-61). God’s promise to His people in Jeremiah’s day was that, as He had done for them seven hundred years earlier when He led them from Egypt, He would lead the way, make straight the path, provide water and nourishment for them. The only thing they had to do was follow. Jesus called His own to do this as well, but their ties to this world rendered the majority too blind and lame to do so. He calls you to follow Him today. Don’t allow any seeming infirmity or inability to stand in your way. Make the first step and you’ll find yourself walking by “rivers of water in a straight way” - and you’ll stumble no more. Pastor Jon Courson | ||
