Jeremiah 13:1-11 Thus said the LORD to me, Go and get you a linen girdle, and put it on your loins, and put it not in water.… Good Words contains an excellent story about Professor Blackie by the editor, Dr. Donald Macleod: — "Professor Blackie frequently stayed at my house when lecturing in Glasgow. He was always at his best when one had him alone. One night we were sitting up together, he said in his brusque way: 'Whatever other faults I have, I am free from vanity.' An incredulous smile on my face roused him. 'You don't believe that: give me an instance.' Being thus challenged, I said: 'Why do you walk about flourishing a plaid continually? 'I'll give you the history of that, sir. When I was a poor man, and when my wife and I had our difficulties, she one day drew my attention to the thread-bare character of my surtout, and asked me to order a new one. I told her I could not afford it just then; when she went, like a noble woman, and put her own plaid shawl on my shoulders, and I have worn a plaid ever since in memory of her loving deed!'" The prophet Jeremiah must often have been looked upon as a man of eccentric conduct. But like Professor Blackie with his plaid shawl, he was not actuated by whims, fancy, or vanity. Jeremiah's warrant for the singular use to which he put his girdle was the authority and mandate of the Lord. Parallel Verses KJV: Thus saith the LORD unto me, Go and get thee a linen girdle, and put it upon thy loins, and put it not in water. |
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