Jeremiah 3:21-22; 4:1-2 (NIV): A cry is heard on the barren heights, the weeping and pleading of the people of Israel, because they have perverted their ways and have forgotten the Lord their God. “Return, faithless people; I will cure you of backsliding.” “Yes, we will come to you, for you are the Lord our God. If you will return, O Israel, return to me,” declares the Lord. “If you put your detestable idols out of my sight and no longer go astray, and if in a truthful, just and righteous way you swear, ‘As surely as the Lord lives,’ then the nations will be blessed by him and in him they will glory.”
God continually held out His hands to His rebellious people over many hundreds of years. Sometimes they responded with repentance and renewed fervor for Him and His ways. But a lot of the time, they just rebelled further, leaving God no choice but to punish their sins and their rebellion. Even in the early days of Jeremiah, when judgment was hanging perilously over their heads, God held out His hands to them, offering restoration and forgiveness if only they would turn away from their wickedness, and from the idols that consumed their time and attention.
Sadly, the people refused God’s final overtures of grace & went further into their rebellion. So they left Him no choice but to cast them out of their pleasant land into the furnace of Babylon. There many of them would die. But from that great number, He would be able to purify a remnant that would return to serve Him, through whom He would bring His plan for mankind’s salvation to fruition.
It brings God no pleasure to have to disciple His people. He would much rather pour His blessing out on us, fill us to overflowing with good things, and give us victory over all of our enemies. But when we rebel against His ways, scorning His directions, giving our hearts to our stuff and our pursuits of pleasure, not responding to His repeated calls to return to Him, He has no choice but to bring His discipline upon us.
It is far better for us, whether an individual or a nation, to respond quickly to His calls for repentance, before our distractions harden into rebellion. Then we can be restored quickly. New paths won’t have to be made; we simply need to regain our sure footing and move forward in God’s ways once again. Severe consequences can be avoided, and we can quickly move forward as God’s witnesses, fulfilling His calling as we live in His presence and power.
Father, I pray for our nation right now. It seems that so many have forgotten You, have turned to their own ways, and are living caught up in their lust for stuff, in their worship of human heroes and stars. For so many, You are forgotten or, at best, put on a back shelf somewhere. Lord, I know that if we continue to flout our independence and our autonomy instead of bowing at Your feet, we will not long endure as a great nation. Father, restore us; revive us; move our hearts to grief over our sins, and to true repentance. Use all of Your power to turn us away from the path of ruin that every great nation and empire has gone down, right up to the present time. Help us to move away from our own agendas and toward You once again.
Lord, I realize that even many of those who go by Your name have fallen into the trap of materialism, worldliness, and busyness, to the point that You and Your agenda have become and mere add-on to their hectic lives instead of the very core of them. Father, revive us and restore us. Purge our hearts of everything except a whole-life love for You, and a self-giving love for those around us. Refill the lamp of our lives with the free flowing oil of Your Holy Spirit, and light us with Your fire, so that the beacon of Your love and Your power blazes through each of us, calling our people back to You, and showing them the way. Amen.