DCLM Daily Manna Thursday 7 September 2023
TOPIC: Directionless Man
TEXT: Jeremiah 10:17-25 (KJV)
17 Gather up thy wares out of the land, O inhabitant of the fortress.
18 For thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will sling out the inhabitants of the land at this once, and will distress them, that they may find it so.
19 Woe is me for my hurt! my wound is grievous; but I said, Truly this is a grief, and I must bear it.
20 My tabernacle is spoiled, and all my cords are broken: my children are gone forth of me, and they are not: there is none to stretch forth my tent any more, and to set up my curtains.
21 For the pastors are become brutish, and have not sought the Lord: therefore they shall not prosper, and all their flocks shall be scattered.
22 Behold, the noise of the bruit is come, and a great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah desolate, and a den of dragons.
23 O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.
24 O Lord, correct me, but with judgment; not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing.
25 Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee not, and upon the families that call not on thy name: for they have eaten up Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him, and have made his habitation desolate.
KEY VERSE
“O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.”
(Jeremiah 10:23)
DCLM Daily Manna Thursday 7 September 2023 MESSAGE
God created man to have great aspirations for progress in all spheres of his endeavours. Man engages himself in unceasing search for material things upon which he depends for relief and change of circumstances. However, it is regrettable that these ways of man generally carry him from one trouble into another and into fruitless directions.
Jeremiah laments the decision of the Lord to sling out the inhabitants of the land, to cause them distress and grief. According to our text, the north country was to be used by God to make Judah desolate and a den of dragons for their impenitence and hardness of heart. Even their pastors had become brutish and refused to seek the Lord and were all scattered abroad. Jeremiah reminded God of the directionless state of man without His assistance and mercy.
READ DCLM Daily Manna Wednesday 6 September 2023 – Ready for Work
Man’s effort will continue to be futile except he receives help from God. In his natural state, he cannot obey God perfectly or meet His high standard, though he may be kind and humanitarian. For him to find God and be in the right direction, he must be a new creature in Christ and discard old sinful lifestyles (2 Corinthians 5:17). To have the new birth experience, he must renounce his waywardness, repent, confess his sins wholeheartedly and receive Jesus as Lord and Saviour.
It is only when a person discovers Christ and His saving power that the secret of the right path of life is revealed to him. The love of God fills the heart to do His will as angels in heaven, with no pleasure for the flesh and the world. As with salvation experience, sanctification and baptism of the Holy Spirit are instantaneous. God roots out the Adamic nature to plant His divine nature, which directs one’s life positively on earth to serve Him and take overcomers to His kingdom at last.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Man cannot direct his life without Christ.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Psalm 101-104
