Jer. 15-17
Jeremiah was not a friend of the people. They did not like his message and, because its fulfillment was long in coming, they disbelieved and mocked him for it. Thus they continued in their wicked ways. Jeremiah was persecuted by men but protected by God. He had to have been lonely, single and rejected as he was. However, God was with him and comforted him. Taking a stand for God, remaining steadfast and faithful to Him can be hard. But it is always worth it. As God said to Jeremiah, “Cursed is the man who trusts in man” but “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD” (Jer 15:5a, 7a). We need to remember that truth, to grab hold of it and truly internalize it so that we don’t turn away when the right way gets hard.
Col. 2
I had a little “aha” moment regarding circumcision while reading this passage this morning. It seems like a bit of a “duh” thing. Still, for whatever reason I really have not thought of it quite this specific way before. I know that the physical circumcision required by God for the Jews was a symbolic thing. It was a sign of the covenant of Law between God and His people. And I know that Paul speaks of the circumcision of the heart as the sign and seal of God’s new covenant of grace through faith in Christ. What hit me this morning is that circumcision is the removal of the flesh.
This point became clear to me reading Col 2:11. “In Him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ”. The Bible often differentiates the Spirit as that which is of God and the flesh as that which is of man. When we are saved through Christ we remove our own ways, desires, and efforts from the equation. This has even more significance when we consider that the covenant of the Law was based on our own physical efforts. There was a physical removing of the flesh given as a sign for this physical covenant. But when we enter into God’s covenant of grace, all of that is removed – circumcised – and we are left with only Christ.