eremiah was a prophet who joined being strong with being tender. While he had very startling words to tell the people, he often cried. This got to be so common that he is sometimes called “The Weeping Prophet.” He is so sad about how God’s people have simply turned their backs on God and have become mean and cruel to each other. They lie and cheat. He tries so hard to have God’s people change their ways, by telling them what disasters are going to come upon them if they don’t.
How do you feel when you find people in your life that are like what Jeremiah is talking about? Maybe some meanness has touched you as well. Jeremiah teaches us that it’s OK to cry. It’s really a gift when this happens while we pray—feeling others’ feeling so much that they become ours. Crying while we pray has been called “Liquid Prayer.” We ask the Lord to send the feelings of our tears to others in need—it’s a way of praying for them.
Feel Jeremiah’s “tears”… yours might not be very far behind.
Mondays are dedicated to the reading of the Hebrew Prophets.
This year in the season of Lent we read selections from Jeremiah 1—17.
These Firestarters are from a new edition of The Bible Through the Seasons being developed for families with children. For the Firestarters in the original edition, I recommend the ebook. You will have the entire program of well over a thousand of these introductions with you on your phone or table! Check the menu options at the site for more information.
The Bible Through the Seasons 