Thurs.’s Devo - The Crossroad

Read: Jeremiah 6:16-8:7; Colossians 2:8-23; Psalm 78:1-31; Proverbs 24:26 Israel was at a crossroads and they needed to decide what road they were about to take. One of the choices was to go back to their roots and choose the road that God mapped out for their nation. But, that was not the road they wanted to choose. God had sent prophets which were like signposts to show them the road to take but they refused to pay attention to the signs. The result would be disaster. They would eat the fruit of their own hands which was wickedness. Jeremiah was to test the people and find out what they were made of as a tester or metals examines stones and metals to see if they were pure or worthless. God would label them as “Rejected Silver.” God sent Jeremiah to the gates of the Temple to tell them that if they repented he would allow them to stay in their own land. Just because God’s Temple was there didn’t mean he had to keep the people there. God promised to be merciful only if they would stop their evil thoughts and deeds and started treating each other with justice. They must stop exploiting foreigners, orphans and widow and stop murdering and worshiping idols. Then they would be able to stay in their land forever. The people had a false sense of security because of the Temple of the Lord. They thought God would never let it be destroyed but they were wrong. God had made it clear when they built it that the building could not contain him and that he didn’t need an earthly building with his name on it. The whole earth was his footstool. When the people refused to turn back to Him, God told Jeremiah to stop praying and crying out for the people. They were bent on worshipping other gods and teaching their children to do the same. They were to tell the people this so they would be warned of how God was thinking. They had set up idols inside God’s Temple and their dumping place would become a valley of slaughter. The enemy was coming from the north and it would open up their graves and scatter their bones where they will not be buried again. In other words, they will expose their sins where they will not be able to hid from them. God ended his words explaining that even birds know when to migrate back to their homes but his people refuse to come back home - back to him. Human reasoning and philosophy is the opposite of God’s ways. The only way we can know anything about God is through Christ. When we come to Christ he performs the operation of circumcision on our sinful nature. When Jesus died on the cross he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities that led us to sin. Jesus shamed these spiritual enemies on the cross. Lord, help us to walk in the freedom you purchased for us on the cross. Thank you for your wisdom and revelation.