SOAP: you don't even know me

S. In the ninth month of the fifth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, a time of fasting before the LORD was proclaimed for all the people in Jerusalem and those who had come from the towns of Judah. - Jeremiah 36:9 (TNIV)

O. So the people of God set aside some time to pray and fast and in the midst of this time God basically says you've all missed the point. You all have not been obeying me. You all don't even know me.

A. It's seriously troubling to me that as I begin a time of personal revival that God exposes the emptiness of religious acts. They can really be deceiving. You seem to be doing the right thing before God, but then you might be COMPLETELY missing the point. Time and time again God says in the OT that he wants people to "know that he is the LORD." I am reminded of Jeremiah 9:23-24 (TNIV): This is what the LORD says: "Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches, but let those who boast boast about this: that they understand and know me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth,for in these I delight," declares the LORD.

P. Jesus, help me not to trust in religious experience or discipline. Instead let me have more of you! Teach me to decrease that you may increase. Teach me what it means that I no longer live, but its you who lives in me. I don't need empty acts of devotion. I need you! I want to know you! Help me not to back away from you out of fear, but to approach your throne with boldness because of Jesus. I need the mercy and grace available there.

PS. I first read through today's reading and felt "nothing stood out." As I sat down to write about this experience I realized I had highlighted some verses. It was a blessing to go back and re-read those verses, because God wanted to speak to me through Jer. 36:9. How easily I walk away from the Word of God thinking I have not heard from the Lord. Let me encourage you with this: As has just been said: "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion." - Hebrews 3:15 (TNIV)