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Day 34 Jeremiah 34 34:1 The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and all his army, and all the kingdoms of the earth of his dominion, and all the people, fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities thereof, saying, 2 Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel; Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah, and tell him, Thus says the LORD; Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire: 3 And thou shalt not escape out of his hand, but shalt surely be taken, and delivered into his hand; and thine eyes shall behold the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he shall speak with thee mouth to mouth, and thou shalt go to Babylon. 4 Yet hear the word of the LORD, O Zedekiah king of Judah; Thus says the LORD of thee, Thou shalt not die by the sword: 5 But thou shalt die in peace: and with the burnings of thy fathers, the former kings which were before thee, so shall they burn odors for thee; and they will lament thee, saying, Ah lord! For I have pronounced the word, says the LORD. 6 Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke all these words unto Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem, 7 When the king of Babylon’s army fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish, and against Azekah: for these defensed cities remained of the cities of Judah. 8 This is the word that came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, after that the king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people which were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty unto them; 9 That every man should let his manservant, and every man his maidservant, being a Hebrew or a Hebrewess, go free; that none should serve himself of them, to wit, of a Jew his brother. 10 Now when all the princes, and all the people, which had entered into the covenant, heard that everyone should let his manservant, and everyone his maidservant, go free, that none should serve themselves of them anymore, then they obeyed, and let them go. 11 But afterward they turned, and caused the servants and the handmaids, whom they had let go free, to return, and brought them into subjection for servants and for handmaids. 12 Therefore the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, 13 Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel; I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondmen, saying, 14 At the end of seven years let ye go every man his brother a Hebrew, which hath been sold unto thee; and when he hath served thee six years, thou shalt let him go free from thee: but your fathers hearkened not unto me, neither inclined their ear. 15 And ye were now turned, and had done right in my sight, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbor; and ye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name: 16 But ye turned and polluted my name, and caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom ye had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return, and brought them into subjection, to be unto you for servants and for handmaids. 17 Therefore thus says the LORD; Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, everyone to his brother, and every man to his neighbor: behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, says the LORD, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth. 18 And I will give the men that have transgressed my covenant, which have not performed the words of the covenant which they had made before me, when they cut the calf in twain, and passed between the parts thereof, 19 The princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land, which passed between the parts of the calf; 20 I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life: and their dead bodies shall be for meat unto the fowls of the heaven, and to the beasts of the earth. 21 And Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes will I give into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon’s army, which are gone up from you. 22 Behold, I will command, says the LORD, and cause them to return to this city; and they shall fight against it, and take it, and burn it with fire: and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without an inhabitant. Have you felt the freedom of being debt free, you were able to breathe, and know you would be able to save the money you had previously used for bills, now paid, but it was short-lived, as something else went wrong and needed repairs, whether major or minor and the money you thought could go to savings left your hand for something else? Life doesn’t seem to allow you to breathe free for more than a few seconds before the next problem arises. God told Jeremiah to speak to the king of Judah and tell him that even though he would go into captivity, he would die in peace. Great, wonderful. God also told Jeremiah to have the king set all the servants free, and make a covenant before God to do so, and they did, only to bring all their servants back under subjection to them. Because they did so, God told Jeremiah to tell the people they would die by sword, famine, and pestilence because of their disobedience to him. Freedom in any form is a wonderful thing. However, when you aren’t careful you can end up right back where you were. As Christians, you know the price of freedom is the shed blood of Jesus Christ. However, if you don’t accept Jesus, turn your back on him, walk away from him, and refuse the sacrifice he paid for you, that freedom is useless. You are still in bondage to Satan. Satan loves your disobedience. There is only one thing you can do to gain total freedom in Jesus Christ and no longer be a slave to Satan, and that is to accept Jesus as Savior and Lord, and if you’ve walked away, repent, and pray for God to forgive you. And he will. 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (KJV) There is nothing better for you than God’s forgiveness, which he freely gives to all those who call on his name. No strings attached. You don’t need to do anything else, just believe and accept. If you walked away from your faith, if you turned your back on Jesus Christ, if doing your own thing is more important to you than obedience to Jesus Christ, God made a way for you, and you can live in peace, knowing God’s forgiveness when you call on him in full repentance. Will you do it today? Let’s pray: Father, thank you for loving me so much that no matter what I’ve done wrong, no matter where I am in my walk with you, you will forgive me and bring me back into your loving arms. Help me see when Satan is enticing me away from you, and keep me on the narrow path walking hand in hand with you. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen. Copyright © 22 November 2017 by Valerie Routhieaux Image courtesy of Pixabay