Day 224

Jeremiah 23:33-24:10; 29:1-31:14.  “Spoiled due to lack of Discipline”

         “Spoiled children are more tolerated in homes than spoiled food.”
         I read this quote and thought of the illustration in chapter 24 of the two baskets.  One is filled with good figs, and the other is filled with spoiled figs that could not be eaten.  God then explains what each basket of figs is representing.  The good figs represent those Judeans who go through the discipline and will return to the land.  The spoiled figs represent those Judeans who ran from the discipline.  Neither group was better at the beginning, but in the end, discipline was to refine them (Jer. 21:9).
         We describe a spoiled child as a manipulative, unpleasant youth who lacks discipline.  Spoiled figs are here analogous of the same predicament, yet with adults.  None of us appreciate receiving discipline at the time (Heb. 12:11), and on the flip side, it’s often uncomfortable to have to discipline others (e.g. our children).  Discipline from God proves His love for us (see Heb. 12).  Don’t be discouraged when God corrects you.  “He corrects those He loves, just as a father corrects a child in whom he delights” (Prov. 3:11-12).

General Questions for each day:
Summarize the day’s Bible passage in your own words.
What thoughts, actions, attitudes or beliefs are addressed in the passage?
How is the Holy Spirit leading you to apply this passage to your life today?

Bible Discussion Guide:
What purposes do illustrations serve?
Test your ability to retain the lesson by merely remembering the illustration.  For example: What was the message/lesson of the broken jar?
How about the images of Nebuchadnezzar?
…broken heart?
…linen belt?
…potter at the wheel?
…shepherds?
…spoiled figs?
An idol is anything you yield to other than God.  What do people have a propensity to yield to?  What do you have a propensity to yield to?
Jeremiah had a soft heart.  Describe the benefits of a soft heart.  Describe how it was displayed in the life of Jeremiah.
God is the potter and you are the clay.  Are you 100% content with the potters design?  Are you content knowing God can do whatever He wants to with you?  Or does that sound too harsh?
Is it fair for a leader to be judged more strictly than others?  Why or why not.
“Happy (blessed) are those whom you discipline, LORD” (Ps. 94:12).  Does that really make sense?  Define this statement.