I Weep

Jeremiah 25

2 Jeremiah the prophet said to all the people in Judah and Jerusalem, 3 “For the past twenty-three years—from the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah, until now—the LORD has been giving me his messages. I have faithfully passed them on to you, but you have not listened.
4 “Again and again the LORD has sent you his servants, the prophets, but you have not listened or even paid attention. 5 Each time the message was this: ‘Turn from the evil road you are traveling and from the evil things you are doing. Only then will I let you live in this land that the LORD gave to you and your ancestors forever. 6 Do not provoke my anger by worshiping idols you made with your own hands. Then I will not harm you.’
7 “But you would not listen to me,” says the LORD.

Frustration is a natural response to years of seemingly fruitless preaching. Jeremiah is known as the Weeping Prophet, and he wept because of Judah’s stubborn refusal to listen to God’s Word. For 23 years Jeremiah has been bringing the people of Judah God’s Word, and (as verse 7 says) they would not listen. I’ve been involved in student ministry for 21 years now, and there are plenty of students who have chosen not to listen to the Word of the Lord. Others who have, and I praise God for them. However, I do weep over the numerous students with whom I have ministered over the years who simply refused to listen to God. Whether they listened to me or not is of no importance, but refusing to listen to God? I weep.