return to God

Come Home, Rebel

Posted on by Betsy

Today’s reading takes us into the mind of Jeremiah, the Old Testament prophet who was tasked with an impossible job: to preach to a rebellious people saying things they would not hear or heed. Have you ever had to deliver a harsh word to people you love? If so, you can feel his pain. This passage is a little long, but hang in there.

Jeremiah 2:5-13, 29-32 (New Revised Standard Version)

5 Thus says the LORD:  What wrong did your ancestors find in me that they went far from me, and went after worthless things, and became worthless themselves?  6 They did not say, “Where is the LORD who brought us up from the land of Egypt, who led us in the wilderness, in a land of deserts and pits, in a land of drought and deep darkness, in a land that no one passes through, where no one lives?”  7 I brought you into a plentiful land to eat its fruits and its good things. But when you entered you defiled my land and made my heritage an abomination.  8 The priests did not say, “Where is the LORD?” Those who handle the law did not know me; the rulers transgressed against me; the prophets prophesied by Baal and went after things that do not profit.  

9 Therefore, once more, I accuse you, says the Lord, and I accuse your children’s children.  10 Cross to the coasts of Cyprus and look, send to Kedar and examine with care; see if there has ever been such a thing.  11 Has a nation changed its gods, even though they are no gods?  But my people have changed their glory for something that does not profit.  12 Be appalled, O heavens, at this, Therefore once more I accuse you, says the LORD, be shocked, be utterly desolate, says the LORD, 13 for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and dug out cisterns for themselves, cracked cisterns that can hold no water.

29 Why do you complain against me? You have all rebelled against me, says the LORD.  30 In vain I have struck down your children; they accepted no correction.  Your own sword devoured your prophets like a ravening lion.  31 And you, O generation, behold the word of the LORD!  Have I been a wilderness to Israel, or a land of thick darkness?  Why then do my people say, “We are free, we will come to you no more”?  32 Can a girl forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire?  Yet my people have forgotten me, days without number.

 If this is your first time reading Jeremiah, you might be feeling like you just took a sip of water out of a fire hydrant. It’s a lot to take in! Jeremiah was a prophet in a time of great apostasy, when the entire nation of Israel had turned their backs on God in every possible way. Having been safely brought out of slavery in Egypt and delivered into the lushness of the Promised Land, they now worshiped the false gods of their pagan neighbors and turned to Baal for divine guidance.

Did you pick up on the “living water” reference in verse 13? What a beautiful tie-in with Wednesday’s reading, where Jesus offered himself to the world as the Living Water that so completes us, we will never thirst again. In this passage, God described the living water he faithfully offered Israel, only to be rejected. People had chosen to dig out cracked cisterns for themselves that hold no water.

 Why do we make things so hard for ourselves? Why not just open our mouths wide and drink in living water? Yet we demand our own way and labor at the unprofitable task of grunting and digging out a useless and broken cistern of secularism and world things that can’t possibly sustain us.

 When we chase after the ungodly, when we follow the dictates of the secular world in pursuing what is popular, cool, admired, sought after (status, wealth, beauty, celebrity, material things, inappropriate relationships, etc.), we turn our backs on God and bow down to false gods.

Where have you rejected God? Where has something been so tempting, so appealing, that you lost your mind and flew after it, forsaking the One who brought you out of your own desert?

Come home, rebel. Come back to God. Remember who you are.

Come to the Waters by Michelle Robertson

Spring Rains

Posted on by Betsy

Do you believe God causes injury to those who love him? This is an excruciatingly hard question for believers. If you shouted “no,” please indulge me by continuing to read.

What if I said, “Do you believe God will do anything to stop us when we are going the wrong direction?” I bet you would say “yes” to that. Or how about, “Do you believe hurt can result when God redirects our path for our own good?” Phrased in this manner, perhaps the subject might seem a little more palatable.

I’m sure we all understand that God will do extreme things to stop us from sinning and spending eternity away from his presence. In fact, he sent his only Son for that very reason. The cross is evidence of God’s desire to put us on a righteous path no matter the cost, pain, harm, or suffering.

In our passage today, the nation of Israel had strayed far away from God. They had separated into two nations and had fallen into great apostasy, idolatry, and rejection of the Law. Hosea came along as a prophet in this fractured time, and God described what is happening in Israel as “adultery.” And so, God acts to discipline and correct the nations that he loves. His correction is painful, as it sometimes is with us. But see what Hosea says to the people:

Hosea 6:1-6

“Come, let’s return to the Lord;
        for it is he who has injured us and will heal us;
        he has struck us down, but he will bind us up.

The One who has hurt you will heal you. Every parent who has had to correct or discipline a child understands this dichotomy. What happens for our own good can sometimes hurt a great deal.

I experienced this many years ago when a new pastor arrived at the large church I was serving and proposed a new staffing structure that eliminated all of the Associate Pastor positions. In a few months I was gone from the church and the people I had loved for 16 years. As I lay wounded, a lovely friend came and gave me the most startling news: God was the agent of my pain. It wasn’t the new pastor, or the restaffing plan, or the committee, or the church. God had done this for reasons beyond my understanding, but I was to trust in him.

Gotta be honest here; it took a while … about two years.

But I landed on this beautiful island and a year later, a position suddenly opened up for me in a wonderful church. Twelve years later I can say with assurance that God absolutely allowed me to have great pain in order to get me to a place where I needed to be. God indeed caused this to happen for my own good. I am thankful for his intervention in my life every day.

As you read this next part, notice the beautiful foreshadowing of the resurrection:

2 After two days he will revive us;
        on the third day he will raise us up,
            so that we may live before him.

And that’s the good news. If God has you in a hurt locker right now, he also has plans to bring you out of it.

3 Let’s know, let’s press on to know the Lord;
        whose appearing is as certain as the dawn;
        who will come to us like the showers,
        like the spring rains that give drink to the earth.”

Like the spring rains that give drink to the earth, God will quench your thirst and restore you to joy if you return to him.

Hosea leaves us with the same warning he delivered to Israel. God desires faithful love. He is not interested in your faux acts of piety, your token offerings, or your shallow appearances at church for the sake of being seen there. No, indeed. We are called to give him our all with a love that is as steadfast as his love is for us.

    Ephraim, what will I do with you?
            Judah, what will I do with you?
    Your love is like a morning cloud,
            like the dew that vanishes quickly.
5     Therefore, I have attacked them by the prophets,
            I have killed them by the words of my mouth,
                and my judgment goes forth like a light.
6     I desire faithful love and not sacrifice,
            the knowledge of God instead of entirely burned offerings.

Can God cause you pain? Only when you really need it. So come back to him with the offering of yourself and he will heal you.

Summer Beauty by Becca Ziegler