Tues.’s Devo - Salvation Comes Through Repentance

Read: Jeremiah 6:16-8:7; Colossians 2:8-23; Psalm 78:1-31; Proverbs 24:26 God told his people to ponder their choices. When they come to a crossroads of decisions he told them to stop and consider the path of their ancestors Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and God’s laws. But they didn’t want that road to righteousness. God sent them watchmen to sound the alarm and try to wake them up, but they refused to be awakened. God said that they could stop doing their sacrifices and rituals to please him because he was not impressed. The Chaldeans were coming from the north and Jeremiah saw how terrorizing they would be. Jeremiah was the tester of metals and God saw the people as rejected silver. God’s mercy is so great. He told them that even now if they repented he would allow them to stay in their own land. Some of the people were saying that nothing would happen to Jerusalem just because God’s temple was there. God said, not to listen to them. God was never impressed with a Temple made of man’s hands. He was always more interested in the temple they built in their hearts. The “Temple” would not save them. He encouraged them to go to Shiloah which was a place where they had set up a place of worship to him. God had totally destroyed it because it had been so defiled with idol worship. If God destroyed Shiloah, he would also destroy Jerusalem. Jeremiah wanted them to mourn before it happened instead of afterward. If they mourned and repented beforehand, God would be merciful to them in the midst of it. God told Jeremiah that his duty was to tell the people but not to expect them to listen. That was not his responsibility. He was God’s voice of warning. God knew they would not heed it, but they would not be able to blame God for not warning them when it happened. In Colossians, Paul warned them of being deceived by high-sounding nonsense that was full of empty philosophies that came from human thinking rather than God. Salvation made us a new creature in Christ and his way is simple. God doesn’t require rituals to gain his favor or to conquer their flesh. God offers power in the blood of Jesus that can conquer any principality or power that we face. Self-denial will only cause frustration; trusting and loving God brings victory over sin. Lord, help us to rely on the power of the Holy Spirit, not the power of our own flesh. All things are possible with you.