These evil people, who refuse to listen to me, who follow the stubbornness of their own hearts, and who have followed other gods to serve and bow in worship— they will be like this underwear, of no use at all. Jeremiah 13:10
Life can be interesting when you have a funny last name.
For starters, mine is difficult to spell. And even when people spell it correctly,
the name is difficult to pronounce. As a youngster on the first day of school, I can remember teachers gazing at my last name listed on the role, hoping to get close when they said it out loud.
The enjoyable side of having a unique last name is in the rare moments when I meet another Wolgemuth. Several years ago, as visitors were identifying themselves in our Sunday school class, a woman stood to say her name. “I’m Victoria Wolgemuth,” she said. And of course, I cut a trail to her after class to get more information on where she was from. Our mutual name gave us an immediate camaraderie.
Do you know that your name is precious? Your identification with your parents and their parents and their parents, is a powerful thing. And as a dad, you are passing this name on to another generation who will continue to carry it forward when you’re gone.
The Israelites were known as “God’s people.” They had been the face of His name for centuries. There had been times when those who bore this name made God proud. This wasn’t one of those times.
So God asked Jeremiah to paint a word picture with an undergarment of what the people had done with God’s name. As strange as this instruction might sound, God told Jeremiah not to wash this undergarment after wearing it, thus allowing it to become adequately dirty and soiled. And then God told Jeremiah to “hide it in a rocky crevice” (v. 4), allowing the heat from the sun and the moisture of the earth to make it rot.
Finally, God told Jeremiah to dig up this buried undergarment and show it to the people: “These evil people, who refuse to listen to me, who follow the stubbornness of their own hearts, and who have followed other gods to serve and bow in worship— they will be like this underwear, of no use at all” (v. 10).
How embarrassed God’s people must have been to be called useless—to be reminded of what they had done to God’s name. How graphic Jeremiah’s illustration was to them.
If you have committed your life to Jesus Christ, you and I share a common name. We are called “Christians.” This name immediately connects us with people everywhere. We are now wearing this name and will do everything we can to pass it on to our children when we die.
Jeremiah reminded the Israelites that God had “fastened the whole house of Israel and of Judah to [himself]” like the way “underwear clings to one’s waist” (v. 11). As His holy people, Israel and Judah were to magnify His beauty, and as a practical piece of clothing, they were to serve faithfully. The people failed miserably on both counts. They were useless.
How effective have you been in showing the world God’s name? Have you demonstrated beauty and service or uselessness?
This would be a good day to make His family proud.