Clinging, Cleaving and Girdles...

 1Thus saith the LORD unto me, Go and get thee a linen girdle, and put it upon thy loins, and put it not in water. 

 2So I got a girdle according to the word of the LORD, and put it on my loins. 

 3And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying, 

 4Take the girdle that thou hast got, which is upon thy loins, and arise, go to Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole of the rock. 

 5So I went, and hid it by Euphrates, as the LORD commanded me. 

 6And it came to pass after many days, that the LORD said unto me, Arise, go to Euphrates, and take the girdle from thence, which I commanded thee to hide there. 

 7Then I went to Euphrates, and digged, and took the girdle from the place where I had hid it: and, behold, the girdle was marred, it was profitable for nothing--Jeremiah 13:1-7

Yes...God is saying exactly what you think He is saying. He paints quite a word picture of cleaving and clinging...one that I certainly won’t soon forget.  This passage comforted me by showing me the extremes God goes to get our attention and that, is such a good thing.

God told Jeremiah to buy a girdle and put it on.  He then tells him not to wash it or take it off  but to go the   Euphrates, and bury it in a hole under a rock. Days, months, maybe years went by...and the Lord spoke to him again telling him to dig it up.  Jeremiah did as he was told...When he unburied the linen garment it was rotted, ruined and profitable for nothing.

So what was the point? Read the next few verses: 

8Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,9Thus saith the LORD, After this manner will I mar the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem.10This evil people, which refuse to hear my words, which walk in the imagination of their heart, and walk after other gods, to serve them, and to worship them, shall even be as this girdle, which is good for nothing. 11For as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, saith the LORD; that they might be unto me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory: but they would not hear--Jeremiah 13:8-11 

God was saying that He had drawn His people, Israel, close to Him...as a girdle clings to  a man's skin; God wanted to be close to His people. BUT they rebelled and sought help in the wrong places and went after other gods. They walked in the imagination of their own hearts...believing their own lies and had done what was right in their own eyes.  Because they had put off their God and clung to their pride, they liked Jeremiah's underwear,  had become rotted and good for nothing. Judgment was coming to Judah via the Babylonians.  There in Babylon they would  finally be cured of their idolatries.  Their city and temple would be ruined just as the prophet's garment.

The application here for us is pretty obvious. Without the Lord, we are USELESS. Rotten and good for nothing.  Beloved...cling to your God...abide in the Vine. Put  Him first in your life always. We are made for His pleasure...to glorify Him.  If you are living for anything but the Lord, you are not living your life as He would have you live and will become unprofitable.  May it never be.

I love what Jeremiah says a little further down in Chapter 13 beginning in verse 15.

Hear and give ear: Do not be proud, For the LORD has spoken.  Give glory to the LORD your God Before He causes darkness, And before your feet stumble  On the dark mountains, And while you are looking for light, He turns it into the shadow of death And makes it dense darkness.  But if you will not hear it, My soul will weep in secret for your pride; My eyes will weep bitterly  And run down with tears,  Because the LORD’s flock has been taken captive. 

Jeremiah says if you won't listen I will weep for you...wow...I will weep for you.  He wasn't mad or flipping out..he was heartbroken for them.  What a heart Jeremiah had for God and for the people God had placed in his care.  Oh, Father, would that my own heart would be the same!