Unlucky mother—that you had me as a son,
given the unhappy job of indicting the whole country!
I’ve never hurt or harmed a soul,
and yet everyone is out to get me. Jeremiah 15:10 (MSG)
It isn’t easy swimming upstream. Jeremiah discovered that. Going against the grain of a community or a culture has all sorts of ripple effects. I doubt that, in many ways, there is much difference between Jeremiah’s community and ours. People are people. We tend to like others who go with the flow and don’t make waves.
Follow Jesus, however, and you’ll find that the path will often lead you against the stream of popular culture. When that happens, we may find ourselves identifying with Jeremiah’s self-pitied lament.
But, without contrast, how will people see any difference?
Wayfarer 
19-21This is how God answered me:
“…………..Let your words change them.
Don’t change your words to suit them.
The last two sentences of this passage struck me today. We are part of a society that is p.c. and often times people “sugar-coat” the truth to make it more palatable. This small piece of the Message reminds us that the truth is a powerful weapon. It reminds me as a parent that I can direct and guide my kids with quiet truth, I don’t have to change my words to avoid hurting their feelings. That’s hard to do sometimes.
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