Learn The Hard Way

While the child can not speak, they understand the word completely…

Jeremiah 43:1-13

Reference:  v.4  So Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers and all the people disobeyed the Lord's command to stay in the land of Judah. (NIV Bible)

Explore:  It starts at a very young age.  The child has just learned to walk and they are keen to touch everything and anything they can get their hands on.  When they reach for something dangerous or breakable you can hear an adult say firmly, 'No!… No!'  While the child can not speak, they understand the word completely… and yet they still reach out to touch the object.  I'd love to say this kind of behaviour is left behind with the toddlers however we see it happening again and again throughout our own lives.  People give us advice and instruction and yet we would rather learn the hard way and take matters in to our own hands.

Application:  The people who had been left behind in Judah had seen their fellow people taken in to exile thus witnessing the truth behind Jeremiah's warning and the consequences of their disobedience to God.  And yet they still decided not to heed Jeremiah's warning and obey God.  They decided to learn the hard way and not learn from the experience of others.  The great thing about reading the Bible is that we have so many stories of God and those who believe in Him that we can learn from many different people.  We can hear about God's forgiveness, we can read about people's choices and we are given wisdom to be applied to our everyday life.  Then the decision is ours: do we learn the hard way and try it all ourselves, or do we heed the wisdom that is given and put it in to practice in our own lives?

Prayer:  Lord, we are so independent that we like to learn everything on our own.  This often leads to us learning the hard way.  Thank You for being patient with us and continuing to offer us Your never-ending grace.  Amen.

What is the best piece of wisdom you have been given?