December 26, 2025

Minding Your Thoughts

A Biblical Overview of Obtaining and Maintaining a Biblical Thought Life

Lamentations 3:60 Thou hast seen all their vengeance and all their imaginations against me.

Jeremiah is sometimes called the “weeping prophet.”  Lamentations is a book of Jeremiah. It is unique, in the Hebrew it is an acrostic and it is written as if it were a message for a national funeral. It portrays the capture, overthrow, and destruction of Jerusalem (which took place in 596 BC). Obviously God’s people in that day did not receive its content very well; in fact, they were so enraged that they put Jeremiah in a dungeon. It is from that dungeon that he spoke the words of today’s verse. The people took vengeance out on this prophet of God; they performed all their evil imaginations against him.

The people of Israel did not believe. It never entered into their mind and they did not even allow themselves to seriously consider that Jeremiah’s prophecy would take place. After all, how could the Lord God of Heaven allow His beloved people to go into captivity? The Lord that performed so many miracles on their behalf, the Lord that formed them, that delivered them from Egypt, that provided for them during the wilderness wanderings, that gave them King David, and King Solomon, that brought them to the place of leadership among all the nations of the world, how could that God now allow them to fall into the hands of an enemy? Yet, He did. He warned them over and over and they would not listen. They did not consider that perhaps Jeremiah was right and that they should repent, turning back to God.

In many ways God’s people do the same today. Some think that because of their faith in the sacrifice of Christ that they will never face difficulties in life. On one hand this is understandable because of all the promises in the New Testament about the Lord’s protection of His people. But, on the other hand, there are also many verses in the New Testament warning believers about hardships they may bring upon themselves. One such verse is Galatians 6:7, Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. If a preacher today warns of imminent doom because of sinful actions what is the common response? Usually it is the same as in Jeremiah’s day; people reject that preacher and even heap upon those preachers unkind persecutions.

When warned, consider it; it may be God’s last attempt to keep destruction in check. How many times did the citizens of Jerusalem wish that they had listened to Jeremiah? Thousands, certainly!

May the Lord bless and be pleased with your thought life today.

Dr. William Howe