When we substitute God, we choose lesser gods and forget the blessings God has given us in the past.
In Jeremiah 2:4-6, God shared his heart with Jeremiah about how the Israelites left their first love and chased after idols.
The Israelites cause for straying was not justified. Rebellion with no just cause.
“What did your ancestors find wrong with me that led them to stray so far from me?
The Israelites chose inferior gods that damaged their character to an inferior one.
They worshipped worthless idols, only to become worthless themselves.
The Israelites had forgotten the past where God delivered them from Egypt and protected them into the promised land. Remembering no more His faithfulness in their time of need Jesus n The wilderness. A stunning poetic cry of abandonment by God Himself.
They did not ask, ‘Where is the Lord who brought us safely out of Egypt and led us safely out of Egypt and led us through the barren wilderness—a land of deserts and pits, a land of drought and death, where no one lives or even travels?”
Indeed, across the Israelites’ society, God’s people had deserted Him Priests. Teachers of the Word. Those in power. Prophets.
The secular and the ministry. No one was immune. Idol worship had thoroughly permeated the fabric of Israelite life.
In Jeremiah 2:8: “The priests did not ask, ‘Where is the Lord? Those who taught my word ignored me, the rulers turned against me, and the prophets spoke in the name of Baal, wasting their time on worthless idols.”
All these people groups had turned away from God. He calls their betrayal out. They pursued idols, chased after the worthless things of this world, and devoted their life to unholy things.
Yet God still compassion for them. He had Jeremiah present his case against their rebellion. It would have been a lot easier to get rid of them with no explanation.
Instead, He spoke to them like a Father. Painstakingly pouring out His heart to them. Like a human parent disciplining his child. Out of a deep concern for their choice of worship and character, how the former influenced the latter.
Choose today whom you will follow and be devoted to, beloved. Whatever you worship, you will take after the character of that worship.
Choise wisely. Choose to worship and pursue the Real Truth.