Good or Bad Fruit

O. T. #1784 "Good or Bad Fruit"

Sept. 23,2020

Jeremiah 24-Part 2

And I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the LORD:
and they shall be My people, and I will be their God: 
for they shall return unto Me with their whole heart. (Verse 7)

LET IT GLOW 

This title reminds me of the bananas I have in my
kitchen. I buy them partially green, which we like to eat. 
Ooh, they are good tasting to us. But by the end of the week,
they are too ripe for us, rotten to us.  If I didn't put them in
pudding or make banana bread with them, they get thrown
out. (Your preference for eating bananas may be different.)
We can be like the good or rotten fruit. Read on to see how.

This chapter was written when King Jehoiachin

of Judah was taken to Babylon along with officials,

carpenters, and smiths. 

Then God gave Jeremiah this vision:

He saw two baskets of  figs placed at the Temple 

in Jerusalem. One basket was filled with fresh, 

good, ripe figs. The other basket was filled with 

bad, rotten figs. 

What did Jeremiah's vision mean?

The good figs represented the exiles God sent 

to Babylon. He sent them out for their own good. 

What are the 6 "I will's" that God says?

1. I will set My eyes upon them for good-He will 

     watch over the exiles and care for them. 

2. I will bring them again to this land. 

3. I will build them up not pull them down. 

4. I will plant them, not pluck them up. 

5. I will give them a heart to know Me. 

6. They will be My people and I will be their God

     for they shall return unto Me with their whole heart.

Whole refers to all, any, every. 

Do we come to God with all of our heart, with which we
love Him? Or do we only come with a partial heart loving
God? Are we serving God in every part of our life? (At
work, family time, church, friends?)

Do we find reassurance here? If our children, family members 

have strayed away from God, we can be comforted in knowing 

that He will bring them back to Himself. And they will return to

God with their whole heart. Do I hear an amen?

Are we the good, moral figs that are pleasing our God? God knows 

those who are His children. In His due time God will deliver

you from the trial you are in today. May we come out like gold put 

into the furnace to be purified and tried. Do we need to return to God 

with our whole heart?

LET IT GROW 

The bad figs represented those who remained in Judah or ran to Egypt.
They thought God would bless them, especially King Zedekiah.
But those people were arrogant.

God gave them 3 "I will's":
1. I will treat them like bad figs, too rotten to eat.
2. I will make them an object of horror and a symbol of evil to
    every nation on earth. They will be disgraced, mocked, taunted,
    and cursed wherever I scatter them.
3. I will send war, famine, and disease until they have vanished from
    their land.

Since those people acted like rotten fruit, rebellious, then they
would be treated like rotten fruit. Instead of being humbled,
their hearts were hardened in the trials. They were removed
from the Promise Land.

Do we know people whose heart is hardened? Only God can
soften it. So continue to pray for them.

LET IT GO
Keep a humbled, soft heart.
Love God with it.