Return

Jeremiah Chapter 3

God compares Israel to a faithless wife who has deserted her husband and has 'gone up on every high hill and under every spreading tree and has committed adultery there."(v6) In full acknowledgement of her behavior, he tells Jeremiah to say "Return, faithless Israel...I will frown on you no longer , for I am merciful...I will not be angry forever. Only acknowledge your guilt..." (v12-13)

Verse 22-23: "Return, faithless people, and I will cure you of backsliding."
"Yes, we will come to you, for you are the Lord our God. Surely the idolatrous commotion on the hills and mountains is a deception; surely in the Lord or God is the salvation of Israel."

Over and over, God calls Israel to return. He reassures her of his mercy. He says he will provide "shepherds after my own heart, who will lead you with kowledge and understanding"(v15). God is so transparent in his love and longing, in his hurt and accusation, and in his willingness and hope to restore Israel to himself.

Israel is a people, but Israel is also me. I am guilty of living independently and ignoring God, even while knowing that God's way is the only way that leads to life and joy. I know this, yet I struggle with shame. I do not want to admit my lack of inner consonance with God's plan for me (or my apathy and ignorance regarding it), either to myself or to others. I want to think that I've just been a bit lazy, but it's not really that detrimental to my life that my scripture study is almost non-existent because I already have the 'right ideas' established in my brain and in my life due to my years of being a Christian. The problem is, this makes the Christian life just a matter of following the rules and going through the motions while ignoring the living relationship that God calls us to. Yes God talks about the faithless actions of Israel, but the essence of his complaint is faithlessness to His person that He is grieving over, not faithlessness to His rules. It is faithlessness to truth, the truth that there is a covenantal relationship, similar to marriage, and Israel is breaking it. I need to admit that I am breaking my marriage covenant with God when I ignore God and simply live by rules and traditions. It is a lie to say that I am still being faithful to God when I am living this way. Lord, I am admitting it now, and asking you to cure me of backsliding, as you say you will.

PS: I am brought now to the further thought that perhaps I am seriously breaking my marriage covenant when I simply go through the nuts-and-bolts motions of our marriage without putting much of my heart into it. That is also food for further thought.