Accustomed to Evil
“Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then also you can do good who are accustomed to do evil.”
TWO RHETORICAL QUESTIONS
Jeremiah uses images from nature everyone recognized — skin and spots — to make the obvious answer impossible to dodge: no, that doesn't change on its own.
THE WEIGHT OF HABIT
'Accustomed to do evil' describes something repeated so long it no longer feels like a choice — it has become pattern, almost second nature.
A DIAGNOSIS, NOT A FINAL VERDICT
Jeremiah is describing Judah's actual condition in that moment — how hard change really is — not decreeing it impossible forever with God.
THE LIMIT OF HUMAN EFFORT
If changing your own skin were within reach of willpower, the verse would lose its point — it points to a need only God can meet.
WHERE THE HOPE ACTUALLY LIES
If you can't change on your own what has become habit, that's not cause for despair — it's the invitation to stop trying alone and ask God for a new heart.
ASK FOR WHAT YOU CAN'T DO ALONE
Act: Name one sin pattern that already feels automatic in you, and pray today specifically asking God to do what you cannot do alone.