It was a regular day. I got out of bed to an alarm. My warm feet from a night’s sleep recoiled slightly from the cold morning floor. Barely ambulatory, I made my way toward the living room. After making my coffee, I sat down in the chair I sit in nearly every morning, opened my Bible, and began reading.
I wish I could say I dove into my Bible like Greg Louganis into a pool, but I didn’t. I was tired. And a bit sad, to be honest. I remember thinking I felt spiritually sluggish. In one sense, I did not want to read my Bible. I just wanted to sit there. But knowing time was fleeting and responsibilities awaited, I peeled my eyes back and put them on the page.
That morning’s reading included Jeremiah 31. As I strolled through the soft grass of the passage I came upon verse 25. It shocked me like I had fallen into a pool.
I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish. (Jer. 31:25)
In the midst of a book that involves quite a bit of judgment by God, there are many streams of mercy flowing at the feet of the faithful. This was one of them. God promises to refresh the weary. And there I sat, weary.
As the surprise of the passage began to be replaced with some familiarity with the words. Like Jonathan when he ate the honey (1 Sam. 14:29), my eyes brightened a bit as I tasted the words in the text.
I realized again that God is not only concerned with our status before him but also our satisfaction in him. He means to refresh the weary with himself.
I was also reminded that God uses the Bible to bring us this satisfaction. We need the Word. It is our food (Matt. 4:4).
And as I turned over the chapter and let it sit like a lozenge in my mouth, God directed me back to verses 2 and 3 of chapter 31. God’s people find grace in the wilderness. God loves his people with an everlasting love. And he is continuing his faithfulness to us.
I can’t tell you how my heart soared reading these words. God woke me up. He brought me to this chapter on this day. He walked me through the end of the section in verses 31ff where the promise of the new covenant is made. God is a God who takes his people by the hand (Jer. 31:32) and writes his Word upon our hearts (v.33). He is our God after all, and we are his people (v.33). And, he has forgiven our iniquities and remembers our sin no more (v.34).
God is not only concerned with our status before him but also our satisfaction in him. He means to refresh the weary with himself.
Through the Word, God the Holy Spirit brought me to Christ. He lifted my chin to see him. And I beheld his glory through the pages of Scripture. I was reminded there in that moment of delight in God that he is concerned with my satisfaction in him.
Sometimes we don’t feel like reading the Bible. But we have to. Our feelings here show our real need. And when we do, God shows us who he is and how he loves us. Praise God for how he wakes us up over and over again to see his glory in the Word.
