Jeremiah 10:1

 Jeremiah 10:1 says, Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel:  Just as God called on the people of Israel to hear Him then, we need to always listen to the voice of God today and to hear what He has to say to us.  Verse two adds, Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.  God called on the people of Israel to not learn the way of the heathen nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens.  We need to always listen to God and not to the religious teachings of the world that oppose what God's word has to say.  Verse three states, For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.  God then said that the religious practices of the heathen were in vain.  Verse four adds, They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.  In the last verse, God said that the heathen, those who did not know God, cut a tree and now He says that they adorn it with nails and banners, that it might not move.  Verse five continues, They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.  God said that these idols were powerless to do good or evil.  They could not speak nor could they move, and they were not to be feared or in awe of.  We must make sure that we do not allow the things of this world to become idols to us today.  They are still as powerless as they always were.  Verse six declares, Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O LORD; thou art great, and thy name is great in might.  Just as there was none like God then, there still is none like God.  God is indeed great.  Verse seven asks, Who would not fear thee, O King of nations? for to thee doth it appertain: forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like unto thee.  Jeremiah asked who would not fear God, but even those who were called His people did not at that time, and we know that there are more who do not even believe in God today than there are those who do.  Verse eight adds, But they are altogether brutish and foolish: the stock is a doctrine of vanities.  If we do not believe in God and follow His will in our lives, we are brutish and foolish, just as the people in Jeremiah's day were.  We may be even more so, because we can look back on the coming of Jesus Christ while they were still looking forward to it.  Verse nine declares, Silver spread into plates is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the workman, and of the hands of the founder: blue and purple is their clothing: they are all the work of cunning men.  God said that they had richly made idols, that were made by creative men.  No matter how ornate idols may be, they are still but a man made thing with no power at all.  Verse ten declares, But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation.  As stated then, there is only one true and living God.  We can either choose to follow Him through putting our faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, or we can one day face His judgment without hope.