Jump Start # 146 

Jeremiah 6:15 “Were they ashamed because of the abomination they have done? They were not even ashamed at all; they did not even know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; at the time that I punish them, they shall be cast down,’ says the Lord.”

  Jeremiah is known as the weeping prophet. His message was to his people. God’s patience with the nation had run out. Jeremiah tells of the coming destruction from Babylon. Judah would be in captivity for 70 long years. Only a small portion of Judah would come back to their homeland after the captivity.

  Here in the sixth chapter we find a series of spiritual problems with Judah. God is not to blame for what was coming. They brought it on themselves. We find:

• Behold, their ears are closed and they cannot listen (10)
• The word of the Lord has become a reproach to them; they nave no delight in it (10)
• Everyone is greedy for gain (13)
• Everyone deals falsely (13)
• They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially, saying ‘Peace, peace,’ but there is no peace (14)
• They say, ‘we will not walk in it (the ancient paths)’ (16)
• Listen to the sound of the trumpet, but they said, ‘we will not listen’ (17)

  Our verse for today is found right in the midst of these things. They were not ashamed of the wrong they had done and they did not even know how to blush. Blushing is a result of embarrassment. Our faces turn bright red and we feel a sense of shame on the inside. This can come about through innocent things or it can come about from wrong. But doing wrong long enough a person because accustomed and even calloused to the point that they no longer blush.

  What Jeremiah wrote is the place where American society has gotten to. Some have no shame in using the crude and offensive language that they do. Some take God’s name in vain in nearly every sentence they utter. The immodesty of our society ought to make folks run and hide in shame, but it doesn’t. It’s paraded on billboards, magazine covers and across the screen of TV sets. We can’t fix society. It’s on it’s own track, sadly away from God. What we can do is look unto our own hearts.

  Do you still have a sense of shame? Do you still blush at wrong? Don’t feel bad about that. That’s great! We need to feel offended at words, movies, and things that are wrong. When we become accustomed to wrong, it is dangerous. May we never get used to wrong. May it always seem out of place and offensive.

  When Jeremiah stated, “They did not even know how to blush?” I’ve wondered, is it possible to teach that? I think it is. When a person learns about holiness and righteousness their blush level increases. As they walk with the Lord, they become away of how broken the world is. It causes us to blush to think that at one time we were a part of all that and didn’t even recognize it. But now it’s different. Don’t try to be like the world, be like Jesus. Don’t worry if you don’t seem to fit it, you may not really want to.

Roger