No Warmth For God’s Word - The One Year Praying through the Bible for Your Kids

The king sent Jehudi to get the scroll. Jehudi brought it from Elishama’s room and read it to the king as all his officials stood by. It was late autumn, and the king was in a winterized part of the palace, sitting in front of a fire to keep warm. Each time Jehudi finished reading three or four columns, the king took a knife and cut off that section of the scroll. He then threw it into the fire, section by section, until the whole scroll was burned up. Neither the king nor his attendants showed any signs of fear or repentance at what they heard. Jeremiah 36:21-24

WHEN THE WORD of the Lord came to Jeremiah, he was told to “get a scroll, and write down all my messages against Israel, Judah, and the other nations” (verse 2). It was God’s desire that “perhaps the people of Judah will repent when they hear again all the terrible things I have planned for them. Then I will be able to forgive their sins and wrongdoings” (verse 3).

A year later his scribe, Baruch, took the scrolls and read them at the Temple. While most people were too busy to listen and respond, one man, Micaiah, hung on every word of Jeremiah’s prophecy and believed it. But when the scroll was read to the king, he had a very different response. He took a knife and cut off each section as it was read and threw it into the fire until the whole thing was burned. We can almost hear him and his officials laughing as they cut apart God’s Word and threw it in the fire. In the coldness of the room, there was no warmth for God’s Word —no sadness over sin, no reverent fear, no ears to hear, no heart to obey.

While this scene of rejection of God’s Word is far removed from us in years, it is not far from us in reality. Whenever and wherever God’s promise of judgment for sin and his promise of mercy for sinners who repent are rejected, this scene, in its essence, is repeated. But may it never be repeated among us. May we always warmly receive the whole of God’s Word in our hearts and in our homes.

Lord, we don’t want to stand over your Word in judgment, picking and choosing what we will read, what we will receive, what we will obey, and what we will reject. We want our home to be a place where your Word is welcomed and received warmly.