hear the Word of the Lord, o nations, and declare it in the coastlands far away; say, ‘He who scattered israel will gather him, and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.’ jeremiah 31:10
as i was reading this morning, this verse stood out to me. it isn’t enough to simply hear the Word, we must declare it. we must declare the truth.
we must declare it to those who have never heard it.
we must declare it to those who have heard it a thousand times and have forgotten yet again.
we must declare it to ourselves. when our faith is running low. when our hearts are heavy. when the feelings seem contradictory to the Truth. we must declare…’He will keep us as a shepherd who keeps his flock‘.
sometimes, we need to ask it to be declared to us. sometimes i find that i can speak truth over and over but it is like i am beating myself over the head with truth that isn’t taking root. (thanks to a friend for an interpretation of a dream).
at the end of the day it isn’t enough to just hear. james 1:19-26 talks about hears vs. doers of the Word. if we are merely hearers, we have missed it. our hearing should call us to action. hearing the Word should stir our hearts to declare it!