A Healthy Diet of Understanding

Jeremiah 3:6-18

In one way or another each of the readings for today deals with the problem of human sinfulness, but I find a verse in Jeremiah to be especially timely for the season of Lent. God tells the prophet, “I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding” (Jeremiah 3:15). There is a lot to deal with in this short verse. The word shepherds in this case refers to kings or rulers. That a ruler would be “after (God’s) own heart” indicates that they are faithful to God’s will. But God says these rulers will “feed you (the people) with knowledge and understanding,” and that’s the part that I find helpful today.

According to the gospel of Matthew, after Jesus had fasted for 40 days in the wilderness he was famished. Then the devil challenged him to turn stones to bread so that he might have food to eat. Jesus replied, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God’” (Matthew 4:4). This is a direct quote from Deuteronomy 8:3, a reference to the manna on which the people fed during the Exodus. The manna was real, a sign of God’s grace. But it pointed to the need to trust God and to listen for God’s word each and every day. One may be well-fed physically, but starved spiritually. In replying to the devil Jesus make the point that spiritual food is every bit as important to a healthy life as bread. Which brings us back to Jeremiah. The rulers of Judah and Israel had not attended to the spiritual needs of the people, had not led them to lives of faithful obedience to God. The people were starving from a lack of “knowledge and understanding.” God promised to change that.

The season of Lent reminds us of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness. At this time of year it is important to examine our spiritual “diet,” to be as attentive to it as we are to what we eat. Without the “knowledge and understanding” of God’s word we are left malnourished and unable to live as we should. I challenge us all to be aware of what we consume spiritually so that we may live with faith and trust in God and in love and patience with one another. Bread alone won’t do it. We need God’s word as well.

Prayer: Lord, feed us with your word so that we may do your will. Amen.