2008-12-15 12:20:00
"This is what the LORD says: "Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But you said, 'We will not walk in it'" (Jeremiah 6:16).
Yesterday we attended an Amish church service held in the home of our Amish friends Jesse and Anna Ruth. It was altogether unlike any service we had ever visited and we will share some observations on the experience below our message. On the way over to their home on the eastern side of Lancaster County we listened to a portion of a church service on the radio. It was a live service from one of our local mega churches and had the latest music, most of which we didn't even recognize, even though we don't consider ourselves entirely "out of the groove"! But it did underscore the incredible contrast we experienced yesterday morning.
Jeremiah's ministry was to the Kingdom of Judah in the years just prior to the Babylonian Exile. His ministry essentially urged the people to repent of their sins and turn back to God. In today's verse the direct appeal is from God, "This is what the LORD says."
They were instructed to "stand at the crossroads and look." I believe in this instance the crossroads was that critical period in which they lived. An old commentary states that this is the "image from travelers who have lost their road, stopping and inquiring which is the right way on which they once had been, but from which they have wandered." The crossroads of life is a critical time of decision making not just outward, but also involving inner contemplation. It is a good time to examine our lives. In the case of Jeremiah and the initial recipients it was the sobering reality of the imminent judgment and destruction of the kingdom.
In our own lives crossroad experiences may be the death of a loved one, a life-altering trial, our own aging and sense of mortality, or choosing to tackle a longstanding, destructive addiction.
God called the kingdom of Judah to "ask for the ancient paths." Today the last thing most people are interested in is the "ancient paths". Our culture is obsessed with the lure of the new. For so many the ancient paths have no appeal at all and are generally scoffed at. "Out with the old, in with the new."
"Ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls." I believe the meaning here is spiritual and a call to obedience as found in God's Holy law. This is the "good way" and by walking in it one will truly find rest for the soul. Jesus said, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls."
But many then and so many today emphatically declare, "We will not walk in it." The "ancient paths" are maligned from so many sources. I always expect before Christmas and Easter to see major publications and newscasts launch an assault on Biblical truths. I was perusing through books at a local warehouse store where book after book attacked the foundations of the historic Christian faith. Modern scholars malign the ancient way and sit in judgment of the wisdom of the ages.
Just this morning we received a letter from a trusted Christian ministry informing readers that PBS will run a program on December 18th titled the "Bible's Buried Secrets" which will declare that the patriarchs, Moses, and the Exodus are all myths, and that God and "his wife" were a part of the pagan Canaanite pantheon; the program declares further that the Israelites were simply a sub-tribe of the Canaanites and that the Old Testament was a fictitious concoction made up by dozens of Israelites during the Babylonian captivity around 500 B.C. or later. This is blasphemous historical revisionism at its worst.
We need to return to the "ancient paths." We must commit our lives in obedience to Jesus Christ our Lord, to the entire infallible, authoritative Bible, and to the great example set for us by scores of dedicated, sold-out believers throughout the ages of the Bible and the Church.
My earnest prayer today is this, "I stand at the crossroads and look; I ask for the ancient paths where the good way is, and by God's grace I choose to walk in it and accept Your promise that I will find rest for my soul."
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily prayer: Lord, as I stand at the crossroads of decision I am pulled in many directions, but then I see the well-worn path marked out by the faithful followers of God throughout the centuries – the faithful ones who remained true to Your ancient law whose hearts did not betray the One True God. With godly determination I earnestly desire to follow in the steps of the Master that leads me to find rest for my soul on earth and secures a heavenly home where my soul no longer grows weary.
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