The potter can can continue to shape us if we remain pliable. (Jeremiah 1-3; 7; 16-18; 20)

1:5

God has known us for a very long time. He knew us in the premortal world. He knows our strengths and weaknesses. He foresaw what we could and would accomplish in our lives. He knew the trials we would face. He certainly knew Jeremiah. "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations."

Knowing us very well doesn't set our fate or take away our free agency. You know that I will never be drafted to an NFL team. You knowing that doesn't take away my choice to do it. We all know that it isn't likely going to happen.

This works in a positive way. You know that I am not going to be depressed if I have a bad week. You knowing that doesn't remove my ability to be depressed.

So, knowing the future still maintains my free agency to choose whatever I will.

1:6-7, 10

One thing I am learning studying the Old Testament is that prophets rarely feel qualified. This is true for Jeremiah. "Then said I, Ah, Lord God! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child. But the Lord said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak."

First, the Lord knows us better than we know ourselves. If he tells us we can do something, we can do it. We must exercise faith in God that we can live up to whatever calling or responsibility we are given. Our weaknesses, nor any other force, can stop the work from progressing.

To be called as a prophet is the greatest responsibility God can give a mortal. The assignment is enormous. It certainly was for Jeremiah. "See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant." Can you imagine receiving this call? To have responsibility to pull down and to build anew is challenging to any degree...but to be responsible for an entire nation - very humbling. No wonder he felt ill-prepared.

Keep this in mind next time you're called to be an Elder's quorum or Relief Society president!

1:16

"And I will utter my judgments against them touching all their wickedness, who have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands." This is a common theme with Israel. They really wanted to worship the work of their hands.

In our day, we don't have strange God idols created. People aren't drawn to spiritual idols. Instead, they are worshipping the works of their hands in other ways.

We focus on what we accomplish. We worship our careers and possessions. We've got to stop doing that. It's important that we accept that we do this and not think that we're all that different than ancient Israel.

1:19

"And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee, saith the Lord, to deliver thee." Lots of challenges are going to 'fight' against us. There are always going to be frustrating obstacles and active 'enemies.'

We must have faith that, with the Lord on our side, we will always prevail.

2:5

"Thus saith the Lord, What iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain?" People today are being turned off by religion. They are seeing flaws in the people leading those religions - past and present. They are assigning the iniquity of men to God.

God has no iniquity. His motivation is always righteous. He doesn't have ulterior motives. He has given no reason to turn our backs on him.

But, if we are looking for examples of unfairness, we will find them. I think we are so inclined to go our own way, we invent reasons to not follow God. Worldly vanity feels good to us for a time and the natural man craves it. There are worldly reasons for finding iniquity in our creator.

2:11

"Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit." We trade our glory for things that are of no eternal benefit. Our character is given up for much less than it's worth.

Not doing this is often about perspective. If we see eternal glory clearly, we will not trade for some worldly pleasure. If you knew you help a pound of gold in your hands, would you trade it for a pile of feathers that will eventually blow away? No one would do that!

So, the problem is that we don't clearly see the gold we have in our hands. We don't have the right perspective to see reality clearly. If we ignore the gold and stare at the feathers long enough, the feathers are what holds the value. Again, the problem is often about perspective.

2:13

"For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water." The two evils are:

1. Forsaking Christ.

2. Worshipping idols.

Again, If we could see things clearly, we wouldn't give up a fountain of living water for old, stale water stored in broken cisterns that cannot hold water anyway. Who would do that?

For some reason, we value something that we created over Christ. We value our modern day idols that we earned or built. It is one thing to forsake God, it's another to find a stupid replacement.

2:19

"Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord God of hosts." We shall be punished for our sins. But, some sins punish us in real time.

Disobeying the Word of Wisdom is a sin for members of the church because we are being disobedient. That disobedience has consequences if not repented for.

However, it's possible that this disobedience provides its own consequences almost immediately. If I start abusing prescription drugs, my altered state and increasing dependence are their own consequences.

2:20

We are very grateful and loyal in the very day that we are granted freedom. "For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot." But, as time goes on, we forget the feelings of gratitude and we start to wander. The more time that separates us from our liberation, the more likely we are to turn our backs on our liberator. Gratitude seems to have an expiration date.

2:25

"Withhold thy foot from being unshod, and thy throat from thirst: but thou saidst, There is no hope: no; for I have loved strangers, and after them will I go." When we are craving something, we will forego the basics. We will go without food or drink. We won't get dressed.

Video games are inherently sinful. On our mission, we entered an apartment where two men lived. They had an elaborate computer system set up in front of some recliners. It appeared that they sat on those chairs all day, every day. Surrounding their chairs were old wrappers of fast food. There were paths made through the trash to the restroom.

It appeared that their lives were almost entirely video games. They were giving up basic hygiene and healthy meals and real relationships for games. It appeared that they were addicted to the dopamine they were receiving from the game.

Other, sinful addictions can act the same way. We may give up the necessities of life to get what we crave.

2:27

"Saying to a stock, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast brought me forth: for they have turned their back unto me, and not their face: but in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and save us." They were worshipping idols during the good times. But Jeremiah was predicting that, when bad times come, they'll quickly turn back towards the Lord for help.

The modern day version of this is similar. We rely on our wits and work ethic to provide for us until something happens that we can't pay our way out of. How many rich people have succumbed to terminal illness and their money can't save them? When these events happen, people often turn to God. Unfortunately, it's when there are no other manmade options.

2:32

"Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet my people have forgotten me days without number." It is ironic that we never forget silly things but forget God.

I NEVER forget to bring my phone with me when I leave the house. But, I often forget the Lord when going to bed. If our relationship with Jesus Christ is the priority of our lives, we will not forget him.

2:35

"Yet thou sayest, Because I am innocent, surely his anger shall turn from me. Behold, I will plead with thee, because thou sayest, I have not sinned." Believing your are innocent when you're not is damning. It's one thing to know you have a weakness and need to repent. It's another to not believe you have anything to repent for! Which is more likely to eventually repent? Of course it's the one who is aware of his sin.

I am somewhat paranoid about this with myself. What are the things that I am doing that aren't in alignment with what the Lord wants...that I don't see?

Elder Bednar once said that we can pray for God to reveal to us how we can be better. He did warn that we need to be ready because this enlightenment will come and it can be difficult to face. But, do we really want to live our lives in ignorance of how we can improve?

What is worse than ignorance is when we rationalize. We are aware that we are stepping off of the path but figure out a way to be okay with it. I think this is very common. In my life, I've rationalized a lot of bad behavior. My best rationalization doesn't change the sinfulness of a single bad decision.

3:5, 13

"Will he reserve his anger for ever? will he keep it to the end? Behold, thou hast spoken and done evil things as thou couldest." The people were asking for God to not be angry WHILE STILL COMMITTING THE SIN. This sounds irrational and insolent.

Of course, we sometimes do this very thing when we are hanging on to our favorite sins while expecting to be blessed. We want all of the mercy of a loving God without facing any of his justice.

This behavior is rebellious and hypocritical. Nothing makes God more angry than rebellion and hypocrisy. We really need to avoid doing this.

"Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the Lord." We must acknowledge that we have a problem before we can do any work to overcome it. We can only solve problems that 'exist.' God will help us overcome our weakness if we first acknowledge them.

3:22

"Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the Lord our God." How many of us feel that we are backsliding at times? We progress and then slip back into bad habits?

God knows this about us. He will patiently wait for us to stop backsliding and will strengthen us as we get back up and start progressing. I am reminded of this video:

https://youtu.be/w9WfhZ_7l24

God is going to be a little more helpful than that mama bear...

7:10

"And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations?" That last part represents some amazing rationalization. The people feel like they are delivered by their God at the temple so they can sin. Somehow, God has delivered them from the consequences of sin.

We cannot think this way ourselves. We cannot consider Christ's atonement as a free pass to sin. We should not think that our sinful character will be somehow changed through no effort of our own. Christ's sacrifice allows us to repent of our sins. It does not offer some type of cleaning agent that will strip our souls from sin against our will. It is our will that will determine the effects of Christ's atonement in our lives.

7:24

"But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward." Life is an uphill battle. If we are in a vehicle and suddenly shift into neutral, we will slow our progress until we eventually go backwards. The backward motion will be slight but will build speed until the vehicle is out of control. The point is that there is no parking on the road of life - it's either forward or reverse.

Why is life uphill? It is meant to be that way. We are meant to pass through sorrow. There is the constant pull of the natural man. We are surrounded by temptations. We can view it as a headwind that never stops. If we are on roller skates and stop pushing forward, the wind will start pushing us back. We can't sidestep the hurricane of this world.

The forward motion is guided by the scriptures and our prophet and the Holy Ghost. If we ignore all of that help, we truly are slipping out of gear and in neutral. Because of the world, neutral inevitably leads to traveling backward.

16:16

"Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the Lord, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks." In some areas, our missionaries are fishermen. They are casting wide nets and receiving many converts. Other missionaries are hunters. They have to seek out a single convert.

Both fishers and hunters are needed to gather Israel. Generally, church members are hunters. The normal member isn't converting congregations of people. We did need to be looking, even searching, for those who may accept the gospel.

17:5-8

These verses have two parts. First, they describe what happens to someone who trusts man above God. "Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited."

Second, they describe someone who trusts God. "Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see (fear) when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit."

The interesting part for me is what the bad and the good don't see or fear. When we are wicked, we don't actually see the goodness around us or approaching us. We can't see:

• Truth as it is.

• Opportunities to serve and be a strength to others.

• The positive side to a situation or challenge or person. We may become cynical or critical or pessimistic.

• Our blessings.

• The flaws in church leaders around us.

When we are good, we don't fear the mortal struggles that we all face. We see:

• Challenges can actually be opportunities for growth.

• Chronic diseases will eventually end in the resurrection.

• Our blessings.

• The goodness in others.

• The truthfulness of a principle or situation regardless of the imperfection of other mortals. Our testimony of the gospel is more resistant to doubts.

It's clear that we must put our trust in God.

17:9

"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" What is more deceitful than the human heart? Nature always acts how it was designed to. It always reacts to stimuli consistently. If you plant a healthy seed in fertile soil and give it sunlight and water, it will grow. There arent exceptions. Animals behave based on consistent instinct. There is no deceit in nature.

Humans are different. We can be placed in perfect conditions and still we will behave poorly. We have ulterior motives. We have guile. We lie to each other and to God himself. Truly, the human heart is deceitful above all things.

17:10

"I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings." God can always see our heart. I like the idea that God 'tries our reins.'

He can tell what's in our heart by pulling on our reins left or right. If we move as we should, God can see that there is goodness in our heart. If he pulls to the right and we move left, he knows exactly what is in our heart. If the cause and effect isn't natural, there is something unnatural inside of us.

18:4, 6

We should see ourselves as clay on the Lord's potter's wheel. "And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it." The potter can start over.

We need to know that, for God to perfect us, he needs to smash us down and build us back up. "O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel."

The key is that we remain pliable. As soon as we harden, Christ cannot do anything with us. If we remain pliable, he will continue to work and work on making us perfect. Yes, sometimes, he's got to smash us and start over. As long as we accept correction, he will continue to work.

18:8, 10

We should know that God does involve himself in our lives. He's not a distant observer. He blesses and withholds blessings. "If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of (withhold) the evil that I thought to do unto them." He punishes and withholds punishment.

The opposite is true. "If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of (withhold) the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them." He blesses and withholds blessings.

For those who are repenting, this should give us reassurance that there are consequences of our repentance.

20:9, 18

"Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay." We can see that Jeremiah considered keeping his mouth shut. Obviously his life is hard.

It's actually comforting in a way to hear Jeremiah be discouraged. I will think of Jeremiah the next time that I am discouraged. Even the Lord's great prophets can become so.

It is also good to hear that his testimony and conviction was so strong that he couldn't keep quiet. He had to call others to repentance.

He is truly discouraged and perhaps a little depressed though. "Wherefore came I forth out of the womb to see labour and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame?" He wondered why he was even born. His life has become a big ball of labor and sorrow. But, I'm sure he understood that his was a major purpose of life for all of us. We are meant to pass through labor and sorrow.

Again, this should be comforting to many who experience depression. Even the Lord's greatest aren't immune from these feelings.