Verse of the Day
Jeremiah 36:23
And it happened, when Jehudi had read three or four columns, that the king cut it with the scribe’s knife and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the scroll was consumed in the fire that was on the hearth.
Winter is a season of waiting, but also of watching. The fire burns. The cold presses in. And sometimes the very words we’ve clung to seem to disappear into the flames.
King Jehoiakim sat by the fire, listening to God’s word being read aloud. But instead of receiving it, he cut the scroll apart and burned it, column by column. The Word of God was right there in front of him, spoken through Jeremiah, written down carefully by Baruch. And he destroyed it.
Not because he didn’t hear it. Because he did.
Quiet Prayer
Father, when the winter feels long and the truth feels hard, help me not to cut away what You are saying. Let me sit with Your Word even when it challenges me. Even when it asks me to wait, to change, to trust what I cannot see. Keep my heart soft toward You. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Devotional Reflection
There’s something haunting about this scene. A king, warm by the fire, listening to the Word of the Lord. But instead of humbling himself, he cuts it away. He refuses to let it shape him. He treats God’s truth like something optional, something he can edit or discard based on comfort.
Winter faith is tested this way. Not always by dramatic rebellion, but by slow dismissal. By the quiet decision to stop listening when God’s Word becomes inconvenient. By cutting away the parts that ask us to obey, to wait, to trust beyond what we can control.
Jehoiakim was facing a season of trial. Babylon was rising. Judgment was coming. Jeremiah’s message was a call to repentance, to humility, to surrendering the illusion of control. But the king didn’t want that message. He wanted warmth. He wanted comfort. He wanted the reassurance that everything would stay the same.
So he burned the scroll.
But God’s Word didn’t disappear. Jeremiah was told to write it again. Every word the king destroyed, God had Jeremiah rewrite. And more was added. The king’s refusal didn’t stop God’s purposes. It only hardened his own heart.
Winter seasons have a way of exposing what we really believe. They strip back the surface layer and show us whether we’re holding onto God’s truth or just our own preferences. They ask us whether we’ll stay obedient when the path is unclear, when the wait is long, when the word we’re hearing doesn’t match what we hoped for.
The fire in Jehoiakim’s hearth was warm. But it was also destructive. He thought he was protecting himself by refusing God’s message. In reality, he was sealing his own fate.
You may be in a season right now where God’s Word feels hard. Where obedience feels costly. Where the truth you’re hearing doesn’t offer the quick comfort you were hoping for. The temptation is real to set it aside, to soften it, to cut away the parts that challenge you.
But winter faith says: I will hold steady. I will not edit what God has said. I will sit with His Word even when it’s difficult, even when it asks more of me than I feel ready to give.
The king had a choice, and so do you. Will you receive what God is saying, or will you carve it away to fit your comfort? Will you let His truth shape you, or will you try to shape it into something easier?
God’s Word stands. It doesn’t need your approval. It doesn’t bend to your circumstances. But it does offer you life, direction, and the steady presence of a God who knows exactly what this season requires.
Jehoiakim burned the scroll, but the Word remained. And that same Word is speaking to you today. Not to condemn you, but to guide you. Not to crush you, but to keep you grounded when everything else feels uncertain.
Winter faith isn’t about feeling warm all the time. It’s about staying obedient when the cold presses in. It’s about trusting that God’s Word is true even when it’s hard. It’s about refusing to throw away what He’s given you just because it doesn’t fit your timeline or your comfort.
Hold steady. Let the Word do its work. Don’t cut it away.
Today’s Practice
Open your Bible to a passage you’ve been avoiding or struggling with. Read it slowly. Don’t edit it, explain it away, or skip past the hard parts. Ask God to help you receive it as it is, and to show you one step of obedience He’s calling you toward today.
