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By: Mariah Westra
You may listen to this devotion in audio form via podcast here.
Look up to the barren heights and see.
Is there any place where you have not been ravished?
By the roadside you sat waiting for lovers,
sat like a nomad in the desert.
You have defiled the land
with your prostitution and wickedness.
- Jeremiah 3:2
God made a covenant promise with Israel that He will be their God, and they will be His people. If they obeyed Him and kept His commands, Israel would be God’s treasured possession (Exodus 19:5). But Leviticus 26 reveals that failure to obey the commands of God would result in severe consequences.
Jeremiah’s prophecy is the fulfillment of Leviticus 26. His references to a prostitute are not literal, but figurative language to describe how Israel lost her first love by no longer loving God above all else. God’s wayward people did not cling fast to the command “You shall have no other gods before me.” They strayed from God and by worshiping the idols of neighboring nations, Israel reflected the culture that surrounded them. I often wonder how God’s people could deceive themselves with objects of wood and stone. But the truth is I am guilty of idolatry too.
In college, it was normal to hear me complain that “there aren’t enough hours in the day” or joke “friends, grades, sleep: I can only pick two.” So many things needed my attention, I never stopped to think about what my busy lifestyle was doing to me. In reality, the things that filled my days were more than just activities – they were idols. The sin I faced in my struggle with my busy schedule was that my heart was too busy for God. It was not a matter of what I was doing, but what I loved.
Busyness has become the norm in our modern, fast-paced world. We have careers to build, children to raise, errands to run, and on and on. Just like the Israelites were reflecting the corrupt culture of their day, we often do the same. My challenge to you is to consider how your busyness might be a result of misplaced love.
For hundreds of years, God watched His people place their love and hope in false gods. Such an extended period of time witnesses to God’s great patience and mercy. He sent Jeremiah to confront Israel’s sin, but also urge them to repent and turn back to Him. Seeing God’s patience with His people in the Old Testament reminds us that God has always been and continues to be merciful. Though we fail God, He is patient with us. His Spirit is continually working to draw us near to Him. The gospel itself is our invitation back to God. He never gives up on His people and this truth should spur us to follow after God wholeheartedly.