When the enemy attacked, a woman with seven sons felt
faint because they would all die (NCV, Jeremiah 15:9).
Having seven sons was a Hebrew word picture of perfect
security. A mother’s retirement plan was her sons – with her husband gone they
would care for her in her old age. The unspoken message here is that even if
one of her sons (or, God forbid, more than one) preceded her in death, she
could rely on the others for her needs. But Jeremiah’s grim warning is that
during the siege of Jerusalem her sons would be KIA, and her social security
would be no more.
The Scriptures are replete with warnings about putting our
trust in the wrong things. Hezekiah reassured the kingdom during the Assyrian
siege a hundred years earlier: With [them] is only the arm of flesh, but
with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles (2 Chronicles 32:8). The psalmist
wrote: Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name
of the Lord our God (Psalm 20:7). Jesus warned us not to put our trust in treasures
on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal
(NIV 1984, Matthew 6:19).
There are many securities in which we can put our trust: a
bank account, insurance, a job, a spouse (and of course these are good things),
but they can all fail us. When our trust is in the Lord, though everything else
in our world should fall apart, God will never let us down. When everything
else is gone, God will still be on our side.
TODAY’S MEDITATION
What does your life say
about in what (or whom) you have placed your trust?
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