There's Hope For TodaySample

The colors that flow from Jeremiah’s rich brush are dark; the canvas deeply shadowed. Jerusalem is conquered. Her people deported. Her broken walls and burned gates lend the appearance of an aged prostitute, unable to properly cover herself. In this first chapter of sorrow, Jeremiah describes a city that describes a wayward and broken life.

When our sins finally break us, the glory is gone and a fragile, blackened shell remains. Enslaved, betrayed, abandoned, restless, vulnerable, desolate, embittered, afflicted, helpless, naked, unclean, violated, reproached, deceived, distressed – that is how Jeremiah views Jerusalem. She was once full of people. She was once great among the nations. Now the skeletal remains cause the prophet to mourn. Jerusalem has become a city of beggars and thieves.

The price of arrogance bankrupts a nation. Willful sin impoverishes the soul. The lonely widow calls a warning across the ages. Have we ears to hear?

Guarding the heart against pride and bitterness guards a life against destruction. Keeping the gates of the soul under the Spirit’s control keeps the adversary from his ultimate goal. How lonely sits the city, once envied – now mocked.