The Directionally Impaired Man

Jeremiah says in verse 23 “I know” – The Hebrew word is “yada”. It is the same word used in Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.” It is a deeper than intellectual knowledge. It is a personal commitment – an intimate experience – it is the same word used in Genesis 4:1 for husband and wife – “Now the man had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth…” It implies bringing two together as one in a union, which is intended to be fruit producing. Jesus speaks of a similar union in John 15:16: “You did not choose Me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask of the Father in My name, He may give to you.” And the Apostle Paul writes concerning this union: “Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, that you might be joined to another to Him who was raised from the dead, that we might bear fruit for God.” (Romans 7:4) The focus on fruit bearing seems to be an important emphasis in Scripture.

Notice, Jeremiah’s fear in verse 24 was that he might be brought to nothing or be rendered fruitless. Wouldn’t it be horrifying to come to the end of your life and find you were on the wrong path – that your life was rendered fruitless from God’s perspective? Jeremiah understood without the Lord in and directing his life, he could do nothing – he would be brought to the end of his days with nothing to show from this union – in other words, his life would be fruitless. Jesus likewise reminded his followers in John 15:5: “I am the vine, you are the branches, he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.” Praise the Lord that Jeremiah believed this truth and acted in faith upon it. He understood man’s need to acknowledge and live in obedience to a way which was outside himself or his life would be brought to nothing. But like Jeremiah, do you know? Do you believe this truth that your way is not in yourself; nor is it in a man who walks to direct his steps? Have you trusted in Jesus Christ’s death on the Cross for payment of your sins - your directional impairment - and is the Lord being allowed to live His life in, through and for you?

If you do know these truth’s in a “yada” way, there are certain evidences that will be apparent in your life. First, YOU WILL BE SUBMISSIVE TO GOD’S WILL. Your will will be His will. His heart’s desire will be your heart’s desire. So ask, “Do I have a submissive spirit toward God’s will?” Or am I “recalculating” what the Lord tells me in His Word to do? The psalmist promises, “Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, and He will do it.” (Psalm 37:5) It must not be my choice but God’s choice – not my will but God’s will. That was a wise answer of a good old Christian woman, when she was asked whether she would choose to live or to die. She said she had no choice in the matter, but that she left it with the Lord. “But”, said one, “suppose the Lord put it to your choice, which would you select? “Neither,” she replied; “I would ask him not to let me choose, but to choose for me so that it should be as he willed, not as I willed.”