Wed.’s Devo - The Wrong Path

Jeremiah 6:16-8:7; Colossians 2:8-23; Psalm 78:1-31; Proverbs 24:26 God told the people of Judah that they were at a crossroads and they needed to choose the godly road. It was the road that would lead to peace and rest. They chose the other road instead. God posted a watchman to sound the alarm but they chose not to hear it. They wanted to keep offering incense on God’s altar and also worship on their pagan altars. God told them he wasn’t interested in their sacrifices for him. Because of their rebellion, God was putting obstacles in his people’s path and they would trip over them and many would die. God was sending an army from the north who were cruel and merciless. God told them to repent. Jeremiah was sent to test the hard heartiness of their hearts. Their hearts were like bronze and iron. They were full of slander, corruption and wickedness. God’s fire did not purify them so God labeled them ‘Rejected Silver.’ God offered to let them stay in the land if they repented but he didn’t want them to think that just because they lived in Jerusalem that God would save them. They would need to prove their repentance by stopping their evil thoughts and deeds, and treat each other justly. They needed to stop murdering, exploiting foreigners, orphans, and widows and stop worshipping idols. God told Jeremiah to go to Shiloh and look at the destruction of Shiloh. Shiloh was the place where they had set the ark when they conquered Jericho. The people went there to worship the Lord up until the time when the ark was taken by the Philistines. It had been destroyed 500 years before Jeremiah’s day. Just as God destroyed this place where he put his name, he was going to destroy Jerusalem. God told Jeremiah to stop praying for them because they weren’t going to listen and their fate was set. God had watched how the father taught his son to gather the wood for the fire he would make to idols while his wife made cakes to the false gods. God was tired of reaching out to a people who would not respond to Him. Their human sacrifices were done in the Valley of Hinnon which reminds me of the tunnels of our day. The ones who sacrificed would become the sacrifice. Glory! Their day of feasting was over. God asked why these people stay on their self-destructive path and refuse to turn back. They were not using common sense but running toward their demise. Paul warned this congregation of the same thing. He told them to not let themselves be desceive with empty philosophies and high-sounding non-sense that comes from human thinking and spiritual wicked powers rather than Christs. Paul addressed the deception of their day and reminded them that all their holy days pointed to Christ. He was the one who died and canceled our record of sin against us and set us free from it’s penalty. We died with Christ and are set free from the spiritual powers of this word. We are no longer bound by rituals to make us clean. We are clean because of what Christ did for us on the cross. Lord, help us to walk in our resurrected power.