SENSELESSNESS

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“Tell them this: ‘These gods, who did not make the heavens and the earth, will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.’”

“But God made the earth by His power; He founded the world by His wisdom and stretched out the heavens by His understanding. When He thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth. He sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from His storehouses.”

Everyone is senseless and without knowledge; every goldsmith is shamed by his idols. The images he makes are a fraud; they have no breath in them. They are worthless, the objects of mockery; when their judgment comes, they will perish.”

“He who is the Portion of Jacob is not like these, for He is the Maker of all things, including Israel, the people of his inheritance—the Lord Almighty is His name.

Jeremiah 10:11-16

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

The people of Old Testament Israel in Jeremiah’s time had allowed the pagan practices of people living in surrounding areas to influence their worship, choosing to bow down and place their trust in false gods while abandoning the very Lord who made them and had blessed them and their ancestors so richly.

The move was completely senseless but then again, mankind has a history of acting senselessly, surrendering to the temptations of sin instead of remaining grounded in the Lord and receiving the fullest measure of His righteousness.

What made the actions of the ancient Israelites so senseless?

Let’s look to today’s scripture passage to find the answers:

“Tell them this: ‘These gods, who did not make the heavens and the earth, will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.’”

“But God made the earth by His power; He founded the world by His wisdom and stretched out the heavens by His understanding. When He thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth. He sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from His storehouses.”

Everyone is senseless and without knowledge; every goldsmith is shamed by his idols. The images he makes are a fraud; they have no breath in them. They are worthless, the objects of mockery; when their judgment comes, they will perish.”

“He who is the Portion of Jacob is not like these, for He is the Maker of all things, including Israel, the people of his inheritance—the Lord Almighty is His name.  Jeremiah 10:11-16

First of all, the Israelites were senseless because they placed their faith and trust in things that would not endure.

“Tell them this: ‘These gods, who did not make the heavens and the earth, will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.’”

Everyone is senseless and without knowledge; every goldsmith is shamed by his idols. The images he makes are a fraud; they have no breath in them. They are worthless, the objects of mockery; when their judgment comes, they will perish.”

The false gods that the Israelites chose to worship were not going to last forever. They were useless because they were lifeless, worthless, and counterfeit, and there would be a day when they would be utterly wiped out, perishing from the earth forever under the weight of God’s judgment. Conversely, God, the only one true God, will never perish but rather endure forever.

Second, the Israelites were senseless because they chose to sin against an omnipotent God who consistently and persistently places His power on display.

“But God made the earth by His power; He founded the world by His wisdom and stretched out the heavens by His understanding. When He thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth. He sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from His storehouses.”

Think about it. God made everything we know. He and He alone did it all by way of His perfect wisdom. All creation was a work of perfection. It was at the beginning and it is today. And God continues to show us His might in many ways but the way the scriptures highlight is through the components of a storm. Within that storm, the Lord sends the thunder and lightning with the rain. Think about the great power contained in just one clap of thunder or one bolt of lightning and know it is a small display of the clout that God possesses.

Why would anyone want to sin and anger someone with that much strength?

Only someone senseless would do so.

Finally, the people of Israel were senseless because they chose to give less than all of themselves to a God who had given Him His everything.

“He who is the Portion of Jacob is not like these, for He is the Maker of all things, including Israel, the people of his inheritance—the Lord Almighty is His name.  Jeremiah 10:11-16

The covenant God made with His people was simple. He would be their God and they would be His people as long as they obeyed Him fully and followed His will and word and ways over anything else. That’s all the people had to do to receive the richest blessings God could give.

The people of Israel were designated as God’s inheritance but they certainly did not behave in a way that would cause someone to believe they were associated or related to God. Not even close. Instead, they decided to live in a way that showed they were separated from God and His ways. And since the people of Israel disassociated themselves from God, God in turn sent them away into exile and in essence, disassociated Himself from the Israelites. If they thought they could live better apart from God, then God would show them just how wrong and senseless they were.

Now, with all this, consider where we are today as a society under God’s purview and ask yourself the following questions:

1.  Are we as a people choosing to place our faith and trust in things of the world that will not endure instead of trusting the God who endures forever?

2. Do we as a people choose to sin against an all powerful God who is always placing His power on display?

3. Are we as a people choosing to give God less than our all while expecting Him to give us His?

If we answer these questions honestly, I believe we’ll be taken to a place of discomfort, to a place of insecurity, and ultimately, to a place of fear.  

For through answering these questions, we will come to the realization that, in many areas, we are repeating the mistakes of the past and in doing so, showing ourselves just as prone to senselessness as the Israelites did more than 2,000 years ago.

It’s time to get our act together and the only way we’ll be able to do that is to return to God, the Maker of all things, and commit ourselves fully to His word, will, and way with complete obedience.

That’s the sensible thing to do.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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