Daily Devotions
Information Aversion
Reading for August 21st: Jeremiah 32-34
At that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the guard that was in the palace of the king of Judah. For Zedekiah king of Judah had imprisoned him, saying, “Why do you prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord: Behold, I am giving this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall capture it...?'"
Jeremiah 32:2-3
I was listening to a story on the radio about a couple of economists who conducted a study on breast cancer. Their study concluded that when women find out that a coworker has breast cancer that they actually become LESS likely to go for a cancer screening. They referred to something social scientists call "information aversion" which is the idea that you don't want to find out something that could be potentially bad for you because of the way it makes you feel. So, if you're afraid you might have cancer, you become less likely to go get a screening for cancer.
It seems to me that this was Zedekiah's problem. What Jeremiah was telling the people was clear and understandable and it wasn't anything they had not heard before. Israel's history was full of examples of God judging his people when they sinned. Over and over again, God sent prophets warning his people of the punishment they would receive if they didn't repent. Their problem was they didn't want to hear it.
Could that be our problem? Could it be that you and I actually know what God thinks about our behavior, but we'd just rather not consider what God's Word says about it? Or we know what God's Word says, and his Word is clear about the matter, but we just would rather not think about it? We'll just live in blissful denial.
Father, help us to seek your truth and not ignore your warnings because of how they make us feel.
