“Diminish Not A Word”
Jeremiah 26
1 In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah came this word from the Lord, saying,
2 Thus saith the Lord; Stand in the court of the Lord's house, and speak unto all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the Lord's house, all the words that I command thee to speak unto them; diminish not a word:
3 If so be they will hearken, and turn every man from his evil way, that I may repent me of the evil, which I purpose to do unto them because of the evil of their doings.
4 And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord; If ye will not hearken to me, to walk in my law, which I have set before you,
5 To hearken to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I sent unto you, both rising up early, and sending them, but ye have not hearkened;
6 Then will I make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth.
7 So the priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the Lord.
8 Now it came to pass, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak unto all the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people took him, saying, Thou shalt surely die.
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The truth is, it’s an extremely daunting task to “rightly divide the Word of Truth” (II Timothy 2:15) and then “teach all nations … to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19)
Not only is it daunting it’s, at times, down right frightening. It’s not easy to open our mouth at any given moment and proclaim with absolute boldness: “Thus saith the Lord.”
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Jeremiah was tasked with a specific responsibility: “diminish not a word.” He was to proclaim EVERY word told to him by God.
When reading Jeremiah, it becomes glaringly apparent God gave him some very weighty words to convey. He could not cut corners or make it come across so as to spare him, or the people, any negative ramifications or repercussions.
Personally, I was blessed and encouraged by his genuine and persistent concern for the people. He constantly and faithfully presented God’s Word, the Torah, from a broken heart burdened with love, passion and concern … though it cost him dearly at times to do so.
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We all have a burden to share God’s Word with others. That burden is implanted within us at the moment of salvation. It constantly gnaws at us, moves us, energizes us to open our mouth (just like Jeremiah did) and share the undiminished truth of God’s Word.
But …
Who of us hasn’t, at some time, felt like Jeremiah as he cries out in chapter 20 —
7 O Lord, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived; thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me.
8 For since I spake, I cried out, I cried violence and spoil; because the word of the Lord was made a reproach unto me, and a derision, daily.
9 Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.
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I’m fairly certain Jeremiah, during some of his darker times, wanted to trim the truth of God’s message in such a way as to spare himself the pain and trouble he knew it would bring upon him.
It’s hard to tell friends, family, loved ones, co-workers: “Thus saith the Lord.” It, at times, feels extremely unloving to inform people that sin is sin, that they are sinners, that sin will be judged, and that there not only is a Heaven but there is also a Hell.
That doesn’t make you the most popular person in your circles …
Until …
Someone you’ve loved enough to tell the good news and the hard truths of the Bible comes to a place where they need someone they trust and respect to help them and …
That someone turns out to be YOU.
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Reality check —
Some …
*People will get mad at us.
*People will hate us.
*People will talk disparagingly about us.
*People will avoid us.
*People will warn others about us.
But …
Not all the people and not all the time.
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Our Country is in desperate need of God’s Word. However I think we, God’s people, have gotten side-tracked somewhat from our true mission:
*We talk COVID.
*We talk politics.
*We assemble our fine points of argument and proof to combat the lies and misinformation being shoved down our throats.
*We sense an inner stirring to speak out and react …
BUT, that’s not where it should end.
*We have to start injecting God’s Word into our conversations.
*We need to pepper our speech with references to God, Yeshua, the Bible. Just a phrase here and a word there will gradually start to make an impact.
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Once we’ve established that we are “one of those people” then we will have put ourselves into the position of being “one of those people” that will be sought out when the time of need presents itself.
We’re not to be sledge hammer witnesses for the Lord. Don’t get me wrong, there is a time and place for that. But, that is much later on. First we need to be “wise as serpents and harmless as doves.”
That sounds simple and easy enough until it comes time to actually inject that little Bible tidbit into the conversation. You might sense a hesitancy welling up inside of you. But, push through and blurt it out anyway. God will use it. You might not see the results then, but you can rest assured that the following will be true.
Isaiah 55
6 Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:
7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:
11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. ——
The results aren’t up to us. What’s up to us is doing our part.
We are to sow the seed of God’s Word. Not every seed will take hold. Some of the seed will be snatched away. Some of the seed will seem to bear fruit but won’t. But some will take hold and bring forth.
Let’s get the seed of God’s Word out into the harvest field. Water and nurture it when you can. And then lay it all on the altar of prayer.
If we start small in our efforts we can be assured God Himself will multiply the results.
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Here are a couple verses to encourage us as we proclaim the “whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27) to this lost and increasingly insane Country in which we live.
*”Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.” (Ephesians 6:10)
*”I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” (Philippians 4:13)
Brethren go out, open your mouth and …
“Diminish Not A Word”