The LORD said to me: Go buy yourself a linen loincloth; wear it on your loins, but do not put it in water. I bought the loincloth, as the LORD commanded, and put it on. A second time the word of the LORD came to me thus: Take the loincloth which you bought and are wearing, and go now to the Parath; there hide it in a cleft of the rock. Obedient to the LORD’s command, I went to the Parath and buried the loincloth. After a long interval, the LORD said to me:   Go now to the Parath and fetch the loincloth which I told you to hide there. Again I went to the Parath, sought out and took the loincloth from the place where I had hid it. But it was rotted, good for nothing! (Jer 13:1-7)

Jeremiah’s loincloth . . . well, the Bible never shies away from being frank and in your face. Prophetic actions may seem a bit over the top, but they are absolutely serious. Of course God’s relationship with Israel is very intimate, like a loincloth . . . but the people did not listen, and consequently they were good for nothing . . . like a rotted loincloth.

The photo today is of Faith II by South African sculptor, Anton Smit.