“We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don’t even know where He comes from.” The man answered, “Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where He comes from, yet He opened my eyes.” John 9:29-30.

John 9:1-34 is the remarkable story of the blindness of the Pharisees because of their pride and the man born blind whose eyes were opened by Jesus. It’s so worth reading to understand why we need Creator God – Father, Son, Spirit. I read our chapter, Jeremiah 13, and couldn’t help but return to that inevitable question of why, Lord, can’t You hurry things along and open all eyes to You. Wouldn’t it be easier? Would it, really? In our chapter, the Lord tells Jeremiah to buy a linen belt and then hide it in a crevice in the rocks for what turned out to be many days. Were people watching Jeremiah? We today can’t imagine a prophet of God obeying His instructions so thoroughly. And then, Many days later the Lord said to me, “Go now to Perath and get the belt I told you to hide there.” So I went to Perath and dug up the belt and took it from the place where I had hidden it, but now it was ruined and completely useless. Then the word of the Lord came to me: “This is what the Lord says: ‘In the same way I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. These wicked people, who refuse to listen to My words, who follow the stubbornness of their hearts and go after other gods to serve and worship them, will be like this belt – completely useless! For as a belt is bound around the waist, so I bound all the people of Israel and all the people of Judah to Me,’ declares the Lord, ‘to be My people for My renown and praise and honor. But they have not listened.’” v. 6-11. Jeremiah handled the ruined linen belt that was so whole before. He saw the stubbornness of the people first-hand. He knew how close God is because God was close to Jeremiah, teaching him. What a disconnect! And now God told Jeremiah to tell the people about wineskins. “Say to them: ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Every wineskin should be filled with wine.’ And if they say to you, ‘Don’t we know that every wineskin should be filled with wine?’ then tell them, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am going to fill with drunkenness all who live in this land, including the kings who sit on David’s throne, the priests, the prophets and all those living in Jerusalem…Hear and pay attention, do not be arrogant, for the Lord has spoken. Give glory to the Lord your God before He brings the darkness, before your feet stumble on the darkening hills. You hope for light, but He will turn it to utter darkness and change it to deep gloom. If you do not listen, I will weep in secret because of your pride; My eyes will weep bitterly, overflowing with tears, because the Lord’s flock will be taken captive.’” v. 12-13, 15-17. Is our pride in ourselves without God like old wineskins? Stiff, unable to yield should new understanding be poured in? Ruined, completely useless? Do we ever consider God weeping bitterly because of the hurt we keep turning to? And if you ask yourself, “Why has this happened to me?” – it is because of your many sins that your skirts have been torn off and your body mistreated. Can an Ethiopian change his skin or a leopard its spots? Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil. v. 22-23. Remember, Jeremiah is telling the people about their impending captivity. All of his prophecies came true because God was letting them know what would happen. What about today? Do we believe that God is Creator and Sustainer of all that is? Are we willing to be taught by Him? We can read all about the history of these ancient people; we can experience the disconnect today of people busy with lives that don’t long for understanding that is deeper than anything this broken world can provide. Wineskins are for wine. Our spirits are for receiving all that Creator God has for us. Will you yield to the wisdom of God or will your pride get in the way? God has truth that is for our good in Him and He will never lead us astray. Now that is remarkable!