A few weeks ago I listened as a preacher, (who was awesome), prophesied over the congregation. He quoted Jeremiah 3:15…

“Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will lead you with knowledge and understanding.”

It was good. It was timely…but I don’t know if it paints an accurate description of what or more importantly why God wants to give us shepherds after His own heart…let me explain.
First of all this happens all the time. We read a scripture of promise without reading the details that lead up to the promise. It kind of reminds me of just hearing what we want to hear…or reading what we want to read. We read the good stuff because the bad stuff just depresses us. Here is the thing though…we fail to accurately understand why and what God is saying to us. So we read verse 15, because we don’t like verse 14…because verse 14 throws things into perspective about the condition of the church…

But what is God saying?

Jeremiah 3:14

“Return, faithless people,” declares the LORD, “for I am your husband. I will choose you—one from a town and two from a clan—and bring you to Zion.”

God says with a resounding echo, “RETURN”. He calls our lack of faith out, our inability to believe that He can do above and beyond all of our expectations…but what is found next is the voice of compassion. God says, “I am your husband”. Those 4 words are life, they are words of love and compassion. He is saying, “Return to Me! Have faith in Me! I love you! You are betrothed to Me! We are married! You are My bride, my heart, my passion, my love…”
Are you getting any of this?

When you get to verse 15 it is the result of a “return to God”. You don’t get shepherds after God’s own heart unless you return to Him. So reading verse 15 without reading verse 14 doesn’t work…

On a different note…

I love it when God says, “I am your husband”. It’s an emotional outpouring of love, sincerity, and compassion. It’s overflowing and beautiful. It represents a God who loves us so deeply that it hurts Him when we prostitute ourselves to other things…things that keep a barrier between us and Him.