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Observations from today’s readings and today’s S-WOD, Friday, 17 July 2026:
Jeremiah 9:1-2 — Oh that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!… Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place for travelers, that I might leave my people and go from them! For they are all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men.
Jeremiah’s tears reveal the heart of a true servant of God. He is not angry because people have rejected him; he is broken because they have rejected the God who loves them. His sorrow is so profound that he longs for an endless supply of tears to mourn the devastation that sin has brought upon his nation. At the same time, he longs to escape the relentless wickedness surrounding him. These are not contradictory emotions. Like God Himself, Jeremiah grieves over the sinner while hating the sin that destroys them. His ministry reminds us that biblical love is neither sentimental tolerance nor detached condemnation. It loves people enough to speak the truth, even when that truth is rejected.
Jeremiah’s life foreshadows Jesus who also looked upon Jerusalem and wept because its people did not recognize the time of God’s visitation (Luke 19:41-44). He lamented, “How often would I have gathered your children together… and you were not willing” (Matthew 23:37). Yet unlike Jeremiah, Christ did not merely weep over judgment — He bore it. The One who cried over sinners became the sacrifice for sinners, enduring the wrath our rebellion deserved so that all who trust Him might be reconciled to God. Every tear Jeremiah shed points forward to the cross, where divine justice and divine love met perfectly.
Following Christ will often produce the same tension. The closer we walk with Him, the more we begin to love what He loves and grieve what grieves Him. We become increasingly uncomfortable with sin, not because we consider ourselves morally superior, but because we have come to know the goodness of God and the destruction that sin brings into every life it touches. Mature believers are not marked by growing harshness but by growing compassion joined with unwavering commitment to truth. We cannot faithfully represent Christ without both.
Jesus not only bore the cross to reconcile sinners to God but also calls His followers to share in His sufferings as His ambassadors to a fallen world. He never promised that proclaiming the Gospel would be easy. Instead, He said, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23). As ministers and messengers of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18-20), we are called to carry not only the message of Christ but also something of His burden for those who reject Him. As we lovingly proclaim the Gospel, we should expect misunderstanding, ridicule, rejection, and at times persecution, just as Jeremiah, the prophets, the apostles, and our Lord Himself endured. Yet Jesus teaches us to respond in a manner that is utterly unlike the world: to turn the other cheek (Matthew 5:39), give generously even to those who take from us (Luke 6:29-30), bless those who curse us (Luke 6:28), pray for those who mistreat us (Matthew 5:44), and overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21). This is not weakness but the supernatural strength of a life abiding in Christ.
As we walk this path of costly grace, we come to know Christ more deeply. Paul counted everything else as loss “that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death” (Philippians 3:10). Union with Christ is not merely believing truths about Him but increasingly sharing His heart, His mission, and His character. The more we experience His grace, the more we extend that same grace to others, even when it costs us personally. John writes, “whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked” (1 John 2:6). To know Christ is to become like Christ — to love sacrificially, serve humbly, forgive freely, endure patiently, and faithfully proclaim the Gospel until He comes.
Jeremiah 9:3-6 — They bend their tongue like a bow for lies… Everyone deceives his neighbor, and no one speaks the truth… Through deceit they refuse to know me, declares the LORD.
Jeremiah describes a society where deception has become normal. Lies have become so habitual that they are no longer occasional failures but the accepted language of daily life. Trust has collapsed because truth has been abandoned. Every relationship is poisoned by selfishness, suspicion, and manipulation. This is the inevitable result whenever people reject God, for He is the God of truth (Deuteronomy 32:4), and Jesus declared Himself to be “the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). When people separate themselves from the God of truth, they inevitably become strangers to truth itself.
- John 17:3 — And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
- Jeremiah 4:22 — “For my people are foolish; they know me not; they are stupid children; they have no understanding. They are skilled in doing evil, but how to do good they know not.”
- John 16:1-3 — “I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me.”
- 1 John 2:3-5 — And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him….
- 1 John 4:7, 8, 13 — Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love… By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.
- Titus 1:16 — They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.
Notice that God identifies the deepest problem: “Through deceit they refuse to know me.” Their dishonesty is not merely a social problem but a spiritual one. Sin always distances us from God because it prefers darkness over light (John 3:19-21). Every lie protects an idol. Every deception attempts to preserve a false identity, avoid accountability, or gain some advantage apart from trusting God. The issue is not merely that they tell lies; it is that they no longer desire genuine fellowship with the Lord.
The same principle extends beyond individual relationships to entire cultures. God is love (1 John 4:8), and love is the foundation of trust. Where God is rejected, genuine love steadily erodes, trust becomes fragile, and relationships become transactional rather than sacrificial. Families fracture, friendships become conditional, institutions lose credibility, and communities become increasingly divided because divided hearts produce divided societies. Only the transforming work of Christ can restore the kind of love that “rejoices with the truth” (1 Corinthians 13:6).
As we abide in Christ, the Spirit conforms us to His character. Integrity becomes more than simply avoiding lies; it becomes wholehearted devotion to truth because we belong to the One who is Truth Himself. We increasingly desire that our words, motives, and actions align, reflecting the faithfulness of our Savior.
Jeremiah 9:7-16 — Behold, I will refine them and test them… Because they have forsaken my law… but have stubbornly followed their own hearts and have gone after the Baals…
God’s coming judgment is described as refining fire. His discipline is never arbitrary but purposeful. Even in judgment, God reveals both His holiness and His mercy. He cannot ignore sin because His righteousness demands justice, yet His desire is not destruction but repentance. Like a refiner removing impurities from precious metal, God uses even severe discipline to expose what enslaves His people and call them back to Himself.
The root problem was not ignorance but rebellion. They had God’s law before them yet deliberately chose another path. Instead of allowing God’s Word to shape their hearts, they followed the desires of their own hearts. Scripture consistently warns against trusting our fallen instincts because apart from God’s grace the heart is “deceitful above all things” (Jeremiah 17:9). Left to ourselves, we naturally drift toward self-rule rather than joyful submission to God’s rule.
Our sinful habits are not merely isolated decisions but part of our fallen nature, inherited from Adam, and deeply ingrained patterns developed through a lifetime of living in a fallen world. From childhood we learn to protect ourselves, exalt ourselves, and seek satisfaction apart from God. Left to ourselves, we naturally drift toward self-rule rather than joyful submission to God’s rule. Yet God has not left His children to fight this battle alone. He has given us His written Word to reveal His character, expose our sin, renew our minds, and direct our steps (Psalm 119:105; Hebrews 4:12). He has also given us His indwelling Holy Spirit to illuminate the truth, convict us of sin, lead us into all truth (John 16:8, 13), empower us to obey (Ezekiel 36:26-27; Galatians 5:16), and continually transform us into the likeness of Christ.
More importantly, the Gospel has fundamentally changed our relationship with sin. Through Christ’s death and resurrection we have been freed from sin’s penalty, for “there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). We have also been freed from sin’s dominion, so that we are no longer slaves to sin but have become slaves of righteousness (Romans 6:6-14, 17-18). While we still battle the presence of sin until Christ returns, we are no longer helpless captives to its power. By God’s grace we now possess both the desire and the ability to obey as we walk by the Spirit.
Nor has Christ merely commanded us to follow Him; He has provided everything necessary to do so. He has given us His own perfect example, leaving us “an example, so that you might follow in his steps” (1 Peter 2:21). He has promised His continual presence: “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). He continually intercedes for us at the Father’s right hand (Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:25), while the Holy Spirit also intercedes for us according to the will of God with groanings too deep for words (Romans 8:26-27). The Father who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all will also “graciously give us all things” (Romans 8:32). Indeed, “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him” (2 Peter 1:3).
God’s purpose has always been far greater than behavior modification; it is conformity to His Son. As Paul writes, God works all things together for those who love Him because He has predestined them “to be conformed to the image of his Son” (Romans 8:28-29). Likewise, “we all… are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another” (2 Corinthians 3:18), and one day “we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). Every act of obedience, every trial, every conviction of sin, and every work of grace serves this glorious purpose. Our calling, therefore, is not to strive to earn a new life but to walk by faith in the new, eternal life we have already received in Christ, trusting His grace to accomplish in us what He has promised to complete (Philippians 1:6).
Jeremiah 9:17-22 – “Call for the mourning women… For death has come up into our windows; it has entered our palaces….”
In accordance with God’s command, Jeremiah calls professional mourners because the coming devastation will be beyond words. Death will invade every home without distinction. The imagery reminds us that sin’s consequences are never private. Rebellion against God spreads outward into families, communities, and generations. What begins as hidden unbelief eventually produces visible destruction.
These verses remind us that God takes no pleasure in judgment itself. Throughout Scripture, divine judgment is portrayed as God’s necessary response to persistent rebellion, not His preferred delight. The Lord repeatedly called His people to repentance through prophets, warnings, discipline, and patient mercy. Only after every appeal was rejected did judgment finally come. Peter echoes this same truth, saying that God is patient, “not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
The cross demonstrates both realities more clearly than any other event in history. God’s justice could not overlook sin, yet His love would not abandon sinners. Christ willingly entered death so that all who belong to Him might receive eternal life instead of condemnation. Every warning in Jeremiah ultimately points us toward the Savior who endured judgment in our place.
Jeremiah 9:23-24 — Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me…
These verses form one of the great theological summits of the Old Testament. Human beings naturally measure success by intelligence, influence, strength, wealth, accomplishments, or reputation. God overturns every earthly standard with one simple declaration: the greatest achievement in life is to know Him.
This knowledge is far more than intellectual understanding. Throughout Scripture, to “know” God means living in covenant relationship with Him. Jesus defined eternal life with these same words: “that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (John 17:3). Eternal life is not merely endless existence after death; it is restored fellowship with the living God through His Son. Everything else that we often celebrate is temporary. Wisdom fades with age. Physical strength diminishes. Wealth changes hands. Positions are eventually filled by someone else. Even our greatest accomplishments become footnotes in history. But knowing Christ grows richer throughout eternity.
This also becomes the true measure of success for every believer. The value of our lives is not ultimately determined by titles earned, wealth accumulated, influence gained, or accomplishments achieved (even in ministry), but by the degree to which we have come to know Christ and been transformed into His likeness. Every earthly accomplishment that flows from genuine love for God and seeks His glory becomes an instrument through which He accomplishes His purposes. Yet the accomplishment itself is never our boast. Our only boast is Christ (Galatians 6:14), for every good work originates from His grace and returns to His glory.
Knowing God also means becoming like Him. The Lord delights in steadfast love, justice, and righteousness, and those who truly know Him increasingly delight in the same things. Union with Christ always produces growing Christlikeness.
Jeremiah 9:25-26 — Behold, the days are coming… that I will punish all those who are circumcised merely in the flesh… for all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart.
The chapter closes by exposing the emptiness of outward religion without inward transformation. Judah possessed the covenant sign of circumcision, yet their hearts remained untouched by God’s grace. Their external identity could not substitute for genuine faith and obedience. Religious rituals are never intended to replace a transformed heart.
The New Testament applies this principle directly to the church. Paul explains that true circumcision is “a matter of the heart, by the Spirit” (Romans 2:29). Likewise, baptism is a beautiful testimony of our union with Christ in His death and resurrection, but the ceremony itself cannot save. It points to the greater reality of a heart made alive by the Holy Spirit through faith in Jesus Christ. Outward symbols become meaningful only because they testify to an inward work of grace.
This warning remains necessary today. It is possible to attend church faithfully, know biblical language, participate in Christian ministry, and yet never truly know Christ. Jesus warned that many would say, “Lord, Lord,” only to hear, “I never knew you” (Matthew 7:21-23). The question is not whether we possess religious credentials but whether our hearts have been transformed by the gospel and are abiding in Him. The Apostle Paul drives this truth even deeper. He writes that one may possess prophetic powers, understand all mysteries and all knowledge, exercise faith strong enough to remove mountains, give away all possessions to feed the poor, and even surrender one’s body to be burned, yet without the love that flows from truly knowing Christ, “I gain nothing” and “I am nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:1-3).
Such love is not merely human affection but the fruit of abiding in Christ, for God Himself is love (1 John 4:8), and those who know Him increasingly love as He has loved them (John 13:34-35). Genuine Christianity is therefore not measured primarily by religious activity, theological knowledge, personal sacrifice, or even remarkable works, but by an ever-deepening relationship with Christ that transforms the heart into His likeness and overflows in joyful obedience and Christlike love.
Jeremiah began by longing to know a people who truly belonged to God and ends by reminding us that God’s greatest desire has always been hearts devoted to Him. Through the new covenant established by Christ’s blood, God now writes His law upon the hearts of His people (Jeremiah 31:33). What the old covenant could command, Christ now accomplishes through the indwelling Holy Spirit, enabling His people to know Him personally and increasingly reflect His character until the day we see Him face to face.
“Cross” Fit S-WOD (Spiritual Workout of the Day) – 17 July 2026: Today, intentionally redirect your definition of success. Before beginning your work or daily responsibilities, spend thirty uninterrupted minutes in prayer and Scripture simply seeking to know Christ more deeply, without asking Him for anything except a heart that delights in Him. Then consciously evaluate every major decision today by asking, “Will this help me know Christ better and become more like Him?”
Pray: “Father, thank You that through Jesus Christ You have made it possible for me to truly know You. Forgive me for measuring our lives by wisdom, strength, wealth, accomplishments, or reputation instead of by our relationship with You. Circumcise my heart by Your Spirit, expose every false refuge I trust more than Christ, and continue transforming me into His likeness. Teach me to delight in what You delight in — steadfast love, justice, and righteousness — and make knowing You the greatest joy and highest pursuit of my life. Help me to know You more deeply each day, to love others with the sacrificial love You have shown me, and to faithfully represent Christ as Your ambassador, whatever the cost. Thank You that You have given me everything I need for life and godliness through the knowledge of Christ, that You are always with me, and that both Jesus and the Holy Spirit continually intercede for me. Strengthen me to walk by faith in the new life You have already given me, until the day I see Christ face to face and am perfectly conformed to His image. In Jesus’ name, amen.”
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