Do Not Abandon God in Your Sin
Scripture Passage: Jeremiah 2:14-25 (NASB)
14 “Is Israel a slave? Or is he a servant born in the home?
Why has he become plunder?
15 The young lions have roared at him,
They have roared loudly.
And they have made his land a waste;
His cities have been destroyed, without inhabitant.
16 Also the men of Memphis and Tahpanhes
Have shaved your head.
17 Have you not done this to yourself
By your abandoning the Lord your God
When He led you in the way?
18 But now what are you doing on the road to Egypt,
Except to drink the waters of the Nile?
Or what are you doing on the road to Assyria,
Except to drink the waters of the Euphrates River?
19 Your own wickedness will correct you,
And your apostasies will punish you;
Know therefore and see that it is evil and bitter
For you to abandon the Lord your God,
And the fear of Me is not in you,” declares the Lord God of armies.
20 “For long ago I broke your yoke
And tore off your restraints;
But you said, ‘I will not serve!’
For on every high hill
And under every leafy tree
You have lain down as a prostitute.
21 Yet I planted you as a choice vine,
A completely faithful seed.
How then have you turned yourself before Me
Into the degenerate shoots of a foreign vine?
22 Although you wash yourself with lye
And use much soap,
The stain of your guilt is before Me,” declares the Lord God.
23 “How can you say, ‘I am not defiled,
I have not gone after the Baals’?
Look at your way in the valley!
Know what you have done!
You are a swift young camel running about senselessly on her ways,
24 A wild donkey accustomed to the wilderness,
That sniffs the wind in her passion.
Who can turn her away in her mating season?
None who seek her will grow weary;
In her month they will find her.
25 Keep your feet from being bare,
And your throat from thirst;
But you said, ‘It is [i]hopeless!
No! For I have loved strangers,
And I will walk after them.’
SUMMARY
In this passage Jeremiah compares Israel to slaves. The prophet reminds them that what they are going through is deserved as they did it to themselves by walking away from God. He says Israel is seeking to be fulfilled in the things of this world that will never satisfy, only to bring more emptiness, dissatisfaction, and destruction in the end.
Jeremiah takes his analogies deeper, explaining how Israel is a degenerate vine, a guilty conscience, a defiled runaway, a senseless camel, an unstoppable prostitute, reminding Israel of the choices it has made.
MEDITATION AND REFLECTION
This passage reminded me that many times, many things I go through in life are the consequences of my own actions. Yet, what the enemy meant for evil, God in His graciousness and love, turned them for good. I was reminded of my heart’s condition—my wickedness in my apathy towards God, my indifference to His kingdom work and His children, and my lack of fear of the Lord.
As I reflected on how I have “abandoned” God, by not honoring Him in every way, I realized how far away I had fallen from God’s embrace, care, guidance, and protection.
I was humbled to be reminded of God’s love. Though Jeremiah’s analogies may sound harsh, it is because God loves Israel that He sends Jeremiah as a prophet so they would listen, turn around, and be saved. As usual, God’s love is so grand that He always gives us more chances by patiently waiting for us to turn back to Him.
APPLICATION
God spoke into my heart reminding me that even though I deserve the fair punishment for my actions, God is so gracious, so embracing, so loving, and so accepting of my brokenness, my emptiness, my negativity, my complaints, my lacks, that He forgives us and that He renews us white as snow.
PRAYER
God, grant me spiritual eyes to see what you see, and discipline me to change the direction of my actions and be able to come back to you.
Correct me in my ways, rebuke me, and forgive me for not caring enough for your children, your kingdom work, and being just busy with vanity of myself.
Help me get out of the bondage of worldly values I have, so that I may be able to put you first before anything else that is your creation. I pray my fulfillment may come from you and you alone, that my life and the choices I make in it are less of me and more of you. I pray I am able to be who you created me to be, not who I defile myself to be in my worldly and selfish ways. Clean my heart, purify my spirit that I may be renewed and be humbly brought back to you. Lord, I need you. I am desperate for your presence, so awake the Holy Spirit in my heart that I may repent of my ways, turn around from sins so that I may no longer be far away from you. I thank you for loving me, choosing me, and always being faithful regardless of what I do.
In Jesus’ name I prayed
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