Contemplative Bible Reading

Jeremiah 6:15 (New International Version)

Are they ashamed of their loathsome conduct?
No, they have no shame at all;
they do not even know how to blush.
So they will fall among the fallen;
they will be brought down when I punish them,”
says the LORD.

I remember my dad discussing this verse in a Bible class he taught many years ago, well it was like four decades ago, gosh. The key phrase is

they do not even know how to blush.

Let’s look at blush in dictionary.com:

blush –  verb – to redden, as from embarrassment or shame

It appears that these people, who used to worship the Lord, have gone so far from what the Lord asked of them that they are not embarrassed or ashamed  of what they are doing. They have become so calloused by their style of life that, well, all that stuff that the Lord asks of them seems to be nothing but a silly notion from some forgotten past.

The Lord promises a predictable result of their loathsome conduct: they will fall, be brought down, and punished.

Embarrassment is an odd thing at times. I make mistakes at work (don’t we all?) and I am embarrassed by those mistakes. Well, I am embarrassed by some of the mistakes. It seems that I am embarrassed by my mistakes in the important areas. Who cares if write 9/8/10 in my note book when today is 9/9/2010? That is easy to correct, shrug, and move on. Hard to correct mistakes, however, are different. I pause, groan, grimace, and feel badly about them. Those mistakes are about things that are important.

The people who Jeremiah are addressing had made one grave sin:

the Lord was no longer important

Violating what the Lord had asked was like misspelling a word while typing. Who cares about that? The computer will correct the spelling while I’m still typing. The Lord was just, well just nothing. There was no need for embarrassment or feeling badly in any way. Forget it. Go on. Forget Him. Go on with the important things in life like jobs, money, bills, standing in the community.

God, help me to always keep you important in my life so that I will be embarrassed and ashamed when I forget what you ask of me.