Waistband...Jeremiah...Learning from past mistakes

I've been in the book of Jeremiah recently, for my daily Bible readings, as I follow the "Read Through the Bible in One Year" chronological list.  I'm amazed at how God kept telling the people that they had strayed from Him and that He wanted them to come back to Him.  God also warned them of the consequences to their actions and of the false prophets who are leading the people astray.  I am reminded of how we can go astray, walk away from the straight and narrow path, and be just like the people that we read about in Jeremiah's days...I sure do want to learn from their mistakes and not repeat any wrongs that they committed.  None of us will be perfect, but we can strive every day to be the women that God wants us to be.  

Another thing that caught my attention is the waistband mentioned in Jeremiah chapter 13.  I think that it made me imagine the waistbands that we have these days and how almost everything has a waistband.  I tried to look up "waistband," during Jeremiah's days to find out more about it, but I didn't find much.  From the text, I've learned that it's something that could be bought and worn around the waist (removable and in contrast to the waistbands we have today).  The reason why I got to thinking more about the waistband is because it's a word that we use today and these verses about the waistband also caught my attention:

Jeremiah 13:10

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

10 This wicked people, who refuse to listen to My words, who walk in the stubbornness of their hearts and have gone after other gods to serve them and to bow down to them, let them be just like this waistband which is totally worthless.

Jeremiah 13:11

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

11 For as the waistband clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole household of Israel and the whole household of Judah cling to Me,’ declares the Lord, ‘that they might be for Me a people, for[a]renown, for praise and for glory; but they did not listen.’

Footnotes:

1. Jeremiah 13:11 Lit a name

This is what Charles Stanley's Life Principle Bible said for this verse:
Here we see the heart of God, a passionate longing to become one with His people, to bless them, to identify them with Him in such a way that they receive honor and He receives glory.
  
We are to highly honor and praise God and give Him all the glory.  I pray that we listen to God's voice, calling, and purpose in our lives.  And, that we repent, turn from our evil ways, learn from past mistakes, and don't repeat them.