08/10/23 Foolishness

READING: Jeremiah 2-4

God had been so good to His people. He had been undeniably and consistently faithful to them. He had chosen them, called them, and guided them. Still, they chased after worthless idols that could offer them nothing. As Jeremiah recorded it, “What fault did your ancestors find in me that they went so far from me,followed worthless idols, and became worthless themselves?” (Jer 2:5). So blatantly rebellious had the people become that they were worthless, too, as followers of God; after all, they had prostituted themselves with false gods. In the words of one commentator, “The ingratitude and stupidity of the entire nation are evident here.”*

Lest we judge the people without critiquing our own lives, however, we should recognize that we, too, can be idolaters at times. We sometimes, too, accept God’s blessings and then defile what He’s given us—and we turn toward cisterns that can hold no water. We’re also guilty before a holy God. May He forgive us when we lean on self rather than on Him. 

PRAYER: “God, I’m guilty of idolatry, too, some days. Forgive me.”   

TOMORROW’S READING: Jeremiah 5-8

*Harrison, R. K. (1973). Jeremiah and Lamentations: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 21, p. 59). InterVarsity Press.

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