DCLM Daily Manna 26 February 2023 Devotional By Pastor W. F. Kumuyi — Lessons For Backsliders
TOPIC: Lessons For Backsliders (DCLM Daily Manna 26 February 2023)
KEY VERSE: “Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the LORD” (Jeremiah 8:7).
TEXT: Jeremiah 8:1-12 (KJV)
1 At that time, saith the Lord, they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of his princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves:
2 And they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they have served, and after whom they have walked, and whom they have sought, and whom they have worshipped: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried; they shall be for dung upon the face of the earth.
3 And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue of them that remain of this evil family, which remain in all the places whither I have driven them, saith the Lord of hosts.
4 Moreover thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord; Shall they fall, and not arise? shall he turn away, and not return?
5 Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they refuse to return.
6 I hearkened and heard, but they spake not aright: no man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? every one turned to his course, as the horse rusheth into the battle.
7 Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the Lord.
8 How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us? Lo, certainly in vain made he it; the pen of the scribes is in vain.
9 The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the Lord; and what wisdom is in them?
10 Therefore will I give their wives unto others, and their fields to them that shall inherit them: for every one from the least even unto the greatest is given to covetousness, from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely.
11 For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
12 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore shall they fall among them that fall: in the time of their visitation they shall be cast down, saith the Lord.
MESSAGE:
In 1822, a white stork was found in the German state of Mecklenburg with an arrow made from central African hardwood, which provided some of the earliest evidence of long-distance stork migration. Many bird populations migrate long distances along a flyway. The most common pattern involves flying north in the spring to breed in the temperate or Arctic Summer and returning in the autumn to warmer regions.
From our text, the Lord used the metaphor of the seasonal migration of some species of birds to places with conducive weather conditions to reprove the utter unintelligent behaviour of thoughtless Israelites. The continuous craving of the Israelites to serve other gods sparked off strong contempt and punishment from God.
The kings of Judah, her princes, prophets and the inhabitants of Jerusalem gave themselves over to the worship of the cosmos – the sun, moon and other planetary bodies. The predicted consequences followed and the backslidden people were severely punished by the appointed agents, to the extent that their bones were scattered before the hosts of heaven whom they worshipped (Jeremiah 8:2). The God of justice used the very cosmic forces they had loved to punish them. What an irony!
We should beware of the allurements of modern-day idolatry. Anything rated or respected above God is an idol. The glamorisation of sexual perversions, institutionalised corruption and pollution via the social media attract divine judgment. We should be more intelligent than the birds who migrate away from unfriendly climates. This is a timely warning to believers in Christ against worldliness which is threatening to engulf the truth and the faith which we hold so dear.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
Spiritual fall gets more terrible with “break-failure.”
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Luke 23-24
Deeper Life Daily Manna was written by Pastor W. F. Kumuyi; is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Life Bible Church situated at KM 42 on the busy Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Nigeria.
