"'For as a belt is bound around the waist, so I bound all the people of Israel and all the people of Judah to me,' declares the Lord, 'to be my people for my renown and praise and honor. But they have not listened.'" (Jeremiah 13:11, NIV)
The word, "melancholy," is an interesting word. One source says, "a feeling of pensive sadness," another says, "a gloomy state of mind, especially when habitual or prolonged; depression, sober thoughtfulness." I have noticed over my life time that I exhibit some of this. I would experience it especially while traveling through East Europe during the communist era, some Followers of Jesus in location where they were all alone, no church, no fellowship. If you were never there, it is difficult to relate the depressiveness of a dehumanizing system. It was also at funerals in which I preached. I brought a "positive message" of the hope of the resurrection, but could not help feeling saddened at the pain of the "left behind." When you read the context of today's text, you can see why Jeremiah is called "The Weeping Prophet." The World could use more like him; there is too much flippancy in modern American Christendom.
You can pick up on melancholy throughout the Bible. Some of the "great heroes of the faith" dealt with it. Now the more "spiritual" among us would tell us that melancholy is a symptom of unbelief, lack of faith---- perhaps, but then you would be accusing some of the great men and women of The Bible and Church History of such. Not to justify any depression or sadness which may accompany melancholy, but there is no doubt that Jeremiah dealt with it. How can one not experience a sadness when one contemplates with "sober thoughtfulness" the condition of a debauched age, e.g., 21st Century Humanity? Look at the decline of America. I have heard so many say that "times are changing." This almost always means, "Get over yourself and accept it." Well, I will not. The change in the United States of America is more and more against Jesus Christ, His Church, His Kingdom Reign. Never in the history of the USA did we have a President light up the White House, celebrating the degenerate life style of homosexuality. No previous generation, whether there were believers or unbelievers, openly paraded and applauded and passed laws celebrating the murder of the unborn. The list is endless.
Bob Mumford once quipped, "Someone told me to cheer up; things could be worse. So I cheered up, and sure enough, things got worse." So much religious hype in worship, preaching, ministry promotion is just that, hype. So much of it could use a good dose of, "soberly thoughtful." This does not mean one goes around "down in the mouth," or negative or grouchy or never smiling. Neither does it mean that there is no "faith" in "soberly thoughtful," which can bring on from time to time a certain sadness. Reading through the Psalms every month gives me an awareness that though the psalmists were men of faith, they also were not blind to the reality of sin, consequences of that sin, promises to which they held, yet many times seemed to be mocked. "Pressing in," means just that, "pressing." The Greek word translated, "press on," in Philippines 3, means, "aggressively chase, like a hunter pursing a catch (prize)." In spite of the melancholy which attacks some, the great call to, "press on," is for our good. The, "catch (prize)," Who is our Lord Jesus Christ, is well worth it.
Sorry for the lengthy writing today, but I want to encourage you if you are a person who tends to melancholy. Don't allow it to depress you to the point of hopelessness, or quitting. Rather, continue to think, live, pray with "sober thoughtfulness." What you see around you, maybe at times even in you, what you see going on in the culture, if viewed, as did Jeremiah, with a "sober thoughtfulness," can bring you to a desperation-praying. Somehow I feel as though we need more of this in the Church.
Father, in Jesus' Name, help me to be a "soberly thoughtful" person, then take what I "see" to You. Amen.
The word, "melancholy," is an interesting word. One source says, "a feeling of pensive sadness," another says, "a gloomy state of mind, especially when habitual or prolonged; depression, sober thoughtfulness." I have noticed over my life time that I exhibit some of this. I would experience it especially while traveling through East Europe during the communist era, some Followers of Jesus in location where they were all alone, no church, no fellowship. If you were never there, it is difficult to relate the depressiveness of a dehumanizing system. It was also at funerals in which I preached. I brought a "positive message" of the hope of the resurrection, but could not help feeling saddened at the pain of the "left behind." When you read the context of today's text, you can see why Jeremiah is called "The Weeping Prophet." The World could use more like him; there is too much flippancy in modern American Christendom.
You can pick up on melancholy throughout the Bible. Some of the "great heroes of the faith" dealt with it. Now the more "spiritual" among us would tell us that melancholy is a symptom of unbelief, lack of faith---- perhaps, but then you would be accusing some of the great men and women of The Bible and Church History of such. Not to justify any depression or sadness which may accompany melancholy, but there is no doubt that Jeremiah dealt with it. How can one not experience a sadness when one contemplates with "sober thoughtfulness" the condition of a debauched age, e.g., 21st Century Humanity? Look at the decline of America. I have heard so many say that "times are changing." This almost always means, "Get over yourself and accept it." Well, I will not. The change in the United States of America is more and more against Jesus Christ, His Church, His Kingdom Reign. Never in the history of the USA did we have a President light up the White House, celebrating the degenerate life style of homosexuality. No previous generation, whether there were believers or unbelievers, openly paraded and applauded and passed laws celebrating the murder of the unborn. The list is endless.
Bob Mumford once quipped, "Someone told me to cheer up; things could be worse. So I cheered up, and sure enough, things got worse." So much religious hype in worship, preaching, ministry promotion is just that, hype. So much of it could use a good dose of, "soberly thoughtful." This does not mean one goes around "down in the mouth," or negative or grouchy or never smiling. Neither does it mean that there is no "faith" in "soberly thoughtful," which can bring on from time to time a certain sadness. Reading through the Psalms every month gives me an awareness that though the psalmists were men of faith, they also were not blind to the reality of sin, consequences of that sin, promises to which they held, yet many times seemed to be mocked. "Pressing in," means just that, "pressing." The Greek word translated, "press on," in Philippines 3, means, "aggressively chase, like a hunter pursing a catch (prize)." In spite of the melancholy which attacks some, the great call to, "press on," is for our good. The, "catch (prize)," Who is our Lord Jesus Christ, is well worth it.
Sorry for the lengthy writing today, but I want to encourage you if you are a person who tends to melancholy. Don't allow it to depress you to the point of hopelessness, or quitting. Rather, continue to think, live, pray with "sober thoughtfulness." What you see around you, maybe at times even in you, what you see going on in the culture, if viewed, as did Jeremiah, with a "sober thoughtfulness," can bring you to a desperation-praying. Somehow I feel as though we need more of this in the Church.
Father, in Jesus' Name, help me to be a "soberly thoughtful" person, then take what I "see" to You. Amen.
When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
Hebrews 12:2
Hebrews 12:2
