Yet they were not afraid, nor rent their garments, neither the king, nor any of his servants that heard all these words.
Jeremiah 36:24 KJV
Our response to the Word of God reveals the true condition of our hearts. In the days of Jeremiah, the Lord commanded him to write everything He had spoken on a scroll and have it read to the people. God’s desire was that, upon hearing His words, they would turn from their wrongdoing and return to Him.
Sadly, when the king heard the message, his response to the Word of God was one of pride and rejection. Instead of humbling himself, he burned the scroll piece by piece until nothing remained. This defiance exposed the hardness of his heart towards God’s truth.
In contrast, the princes reacted with fear and respect when they heard the same message. They recognised the seriousness of God’s warning and told Baruch, the one reading the scroll to go into hiding with Jeremiah. They also secured the scroll for a time. But when the king demanded it, his contempt for God’s message drove him to destroy it completely. He even attempted to harm Jeremiah and Baruch, but the Lord protected them.
This account raises a question for each of us: What is your response to the Word of God you hear? What is your heart’s disposition? Does it pierce your heart and move you towards change, or do you throw it into the figurative fire of negligence and disregard?
Too often, we hear God’s word yet remain unmoved. We may quietly discard it because pride tells us we are self-sufficient and in control. We may even dismiss it as irrelevant or impossible to come to pass. In doing so, we show a lack of reverence for the very word that gives life.
This is a call for self-examination. Let us check our motives and attitudes. Do we still honour God’s word, allowing it to shape and guide us, or have we become casual and indifferent towards it?
Living it Out
God’s Word is not to be taken lightly. It is living, powerful, and able to transform lives but only if we receive it with humility and obedience. The king’s example warns us of the danger of a hardened heart, while the princes remind us of the fear and respect due to God’s voice. May we respond to His Word with reverence, allowing it to take root in our hearts and produce lasting change.