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In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
The word of the Lord came to me: “Go
and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem:”
“This is what the Lord says:”
“‘I remember the devotion of your
youth, how as a bride you loved Me and followed Me through the wilderness, through
a land not sown. Israel was holy to the Lord, the firstfruits of his harvest; all
who devoured her were held guilty, and disaster overtook them,’” declares the Lord.
Hear the word of the Lord, you descendants of Jacob, all you clans of Israel.”
This is what the Lord says:
“What fault did your ancestors find
in Me, that they strayed so far from Me? They followed worthless idols and
became worthless themselves. They did not ask, ‘Where is the Lord, who brought
us up out of Egypt
and led us through the barren wilderness, through a land of deserts and ravines, a land of drought and utter darkness, a land where no one travels and no one lives?’”
and led us through the barren wilderness, through a land of deserts and ravines, a land of drought and utter darkness, a land where no one travels and no one lives?’”
“I brought you into a fertile land to
eat its fruit and rich produce. But you came and defiled My land and made my
inheritance detestable. The priests did not ask, ‘Where is the Lord?’ Those who
deal with the law did not know Me; the leaders rebelled against Me. The
prophets prophesied by Baal, following worthless idols.”
Jeremiah
2:1-8
This ends today’s reading from God's holy
word. Thanks be to God.
What might the Lord say today if He would send a messenger
to speak to the nations of the earth?
It might sound a lot like the words we find Him saying to
Jeremiah in the opening verses of Chapter 2. Look at those words again here:
The word of the Lord came to me: “Go and proclaim in the hearing of
Jerusalem:”
“This is what the Lord says:”
“‘I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved Me
and followed Me through the wilderness, through a land not sown. Israel was
holy to the Lord, the firstfruits of his harvest; all who devoured her were
held guilty, and disaster overtook them,’” declares the Lord. Hear the word of
the Lord, you descendants of Jacob, all you clans of Israel.”
This is what the Lord says:
“What fault did your ancestors find in Me, that they strayed so far
from Me? They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves. They
did not ask, ‘Where is the Lord, who brought us up out of Egypt and led us
through the barren wilderness, through a land of deserts and ravines, a land of
drought and utter darkness, a land where no one travels and no one lives?’”
“I brought you into a fertile land to eat its fruit and rich produce. But
you came and defiled My land and made my inheritance detestable. The priests
did not ask, ‘Where is the Lord?’ Those who deal with the law did not know Me;
the leaders rebelled against Me. The prophets prophesied by Baal, following
worthless idols.” Jeremiah 2:1-8
Early on in their relationship with God, the people of
Israel were devoted and faithful to the Lord. They gave Him their fullest love
and faith during the journey across the barren wilderness journey the fertile land
He promised them, a land rich in fruit and produce. In return, He was always
with them and offered them protection against any enemies who would want to do
them harm.
But something happened when they arrived in the land that
would be known as Israel that changed the entire relationship picture with God.
The people chose to stray.
The Lord tells us of their wicked sinfulness. They adopted
the religious practices of other peoples who were living in the land, peoples
they were supposed to displace but they didn’t in direct disobedience to God’s
command. It ended up being a fatal error as they were influenced by these
people and worshiped worthless idols, becoming worthless themselves. Even the
prophets were prophesying by the false god Baal in direct violation of God’s
directive to not bow down and worship any other gods except Him. They defiled
the land God had set aside for them and made His inheritance a detestable
place. Such is the case where sin is allowed to manifest itself with acceptance
and not rejection.
With all this, look at the question the Lord asks:
“What fault did your ancestors find in Me, that
they strayed so far from Me?”
God had done nothing that would merit His people turning
away from Him. He had only blessed them and watched over them and provided for
them. And in return, they shunned Him and His will for their lives in exchange
for chasing after the world’s desires.
Sound a little familiar?
For I believe the Lord, looking at our world today, would
ask the same question He did to the Old Testament Israelites:
“What fault did
your ancestors find in Me, that they strayed so far from Me?”
God has no more acted in a way to justify being rejected in
the 21st century than He did before Jesus came. He has been consistently and
persistently good to His people through the ages and yet, His people over and
over and over again have been disloyal and adulterous to Him, chasing after the
world’s ways rather than seeking His desires for their lives. The world today,
as Israel was more than 2,000 years ago, is becoming ever more sinful and
detached from the Master and Maker of all things. People are openly defiling
this land that God created and are turning it into a detestable place in His
eyes.
And it’s not going to get better before it gets worse for
we know that the earth and heavens as we know it are going to be destroyed when
Jesus returns as God pushes the reset button on creation and starts over with a
new heaven and earth, populated by those who placed their faith and trust in
Jesus as Savior. The events that are coming will constitute judgment in its
most devastating form and the sad part of the story is that it never needed to
come to that.
All we needed to do is be obediently faithful to the God
who is perfectly faithful to us, the God who made us and provides for us all
the days of the life He blessed us with.
So why would anyone stray?
It’s as much a mystery to me as it is to God.
Amen.
In
Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
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