"Can you hear me now?"
"For 23 years, from the thirteenth year of King Josiah son of Amon of Judah, to this day, the word of the LORD has come to me, and I have spoken persistently to you, but you have not listened."
(Jeremiah 25:3)
There are a number of ways to get a message to someone today:
Talk to them face to face...
Call them on the phone...
Text them...
Email them...
PM them (on any number of apps, including Facebook Messenger)...
Mail them a letter (#supporttheuspostalservice)...
Express mail them (via FedEx, UPS, etc.)...
Fax them (does anyone still have a fax machine?)...
Carrier pigeon them (okay, I'm pretty sure that's not still a thing)...
It's very hard to avoid all contact with folks if someone is determined to get a message to you today.
Back in Biblical days, however, there weren't as many options. You basically had two: face to face or via personal messenger. And if you happened to be God, the latter seems to have been your first choice. Enter the prophets like Jeremiah. God would give them a message to take to the people at large (or to a specific individual). Then it was up to them to listen, understand, and act on those prophetic messages.
In Jeremiah 25, God (through Jeremiah) gets a little frustrated. "For 23 years... the world of the LORD has come to me and I have spoken persistently to you, but you have not listened..." OUCH. Jeremiah then lays out the repercussions for not listening.
What struck me this morning, however, was hearing that admonition as if it were addressed to me. How might God have been wanting to get my attention for these past 23 years (since 1997 - the year my daughter, Emily, was born)? What messages have I missed because I either wasn't paying attention... wasn't truly listening... or didn't have the internal fortitude to actually APPLY IT TO MY LIFE!?!
Oh Lord, keep sending Jeremiahs to me! Don't ever stop. And open my ears and heart to truly hear your instructions. Then give me the courage & strength to live them out. AMEN.