Second Week of Lent '23: By His Own Tongue

"let us destroy him by his own tongue; let us carefully note his every word." ~Jeremiah 18:18

When Jesus was in the desert for 40 days, he told Satan man lives "by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God" (Matt. 4:4). Since we are supposed to live on the word of God, shouldn't His words be our words? The adversaries of the prophet Jeremiah realized he was proclaiming what God had told him. Still, they chose to harden their hearts to it. Much like Jesus, hundreds of years later, the Pharisees and other adversaries attempted to trap Jesus in His words. Ultimately, they had to resort to bribing dishonest men to slander the Messiah to achieve a crucifixion conviction. Much like Jesus, Jeremiah was heartbroken since he "stood before you [God] to speak on their behalf, to turn your wrath away from them" (20b). Sadly, oftentimes, goodness isn't rewarded. It's easy to look at the world today and those around us and think, "must good be repaid with evil?" (20a). We must realize Satan offered Jesus an immense earthly reward in the desert--people would love him if he turned his back on God; otherwise, the inverse would be true--people would hate him for loving God. Many people make that deal with the devil, whether they realize it or not; as Jesus says, "they have received their reward in full" (Matt. 6:2). But we shouldn't expect to receive our reward in full, not in this life. By speaking the words of God, we will be condemned by the world, yet we will be justified by Christ (Matt. 12:37). We shouldn't fear being destroyed by our own tongue when we proclaim the gospel because the ruler of this world (Satan) has already been condemned and will be cast out (John 16:11 & 12:31). The rewards of the world are a short-lived, hollow victory. In contrast, the words of Christ, despite ensuring our hardship and possible earthly demise, will lead us and others to an everlasting paradise. This Lent, renew your commitment to living by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God without fear of consequence, resist the devil, and he will flee from you (Jas 4:7), and always improve the present moment.