God’s words to Jeremiah while he was in prison convey an encouraging idea. “Thus says the Lord who made the earth, the Lord who formed it to establish it… Call to me and I will answer you.” The creator of all we see around us will hear us if we call to Him.Jeremiah is taken care of, even while the city slowly descends into chaos. There is a promise of a better future, “in this place that is waste…there shall again be habitations of shepherds resting their flocks”and also a re-acknowledgement of promises already made, “I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel…in those days I will cause a righteous branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land”.
We read of that righteous branch in Mark 7, highlighting the way the scribes and Pharisees had distorted the law to the extent they were “making void the word of God”. Jesus also explains that it is the thoughts proceeding from our mind that make us unclean, not the foods that we eat.
Let us seek God with our whole heart, rather than being guided by those “evil thoughts” that offer only death, working to imitate Jesus who perfectly manifested God’s character.