You Defiled My Land
Thus says the LORD: What wrong did
your ancestors find in me that they went far from me, and went after worthless
things, and became worthless themselves? They did not say, “Where is the LORD
who brought us up from the land of Egypt, who led us in the wilderness, in a
land of deserts and pits, in a land of drought and deep darkness, in a land
that no one passes through, where no one lives?” I brought you into a plentiful
land to eat its fruits and its good things. But when you entered you defiled my
land, and made my heritage an abomination. The priests did not say, “Where is
the LORD?” Those who handle the law did not know me; the rulers transgressed
against me; the prophets prophesied by Baal, and went after things that do not
profit.
Therefore once more I accuse you, says
the LORD, and I accuse your children’s children. Cross to the coasts of Cyprus
and look, send to Kedar and examine with care; see if
there has ever been such a thing. Has a nation changed its gods, even though
they are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for something that
does not profit. Be appalled, O heavens, at this, be shocked, but utterly
desolate, says the LORD, for my people have committed two evils; they have
forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and dug out cisterns for themselves,
cracked cisterns that can hold no water.
In Jeremiah’s day, the Israelites were
living as if they no longer needed the LORD. They had entrusted themselves to
other gods, even though their gods could not respond to their needs.
Living far from God dishonors and
displeases Him, and it will never meet our deepest needs. But we can return to
Him today. Remember that if you were to create a man-making contest and create
man just like God did, you would have to do it your own dirt, not dirt created
by God. You can’t do it and neither can anyone else. The idol of self is a
sorry substitute for God.
Our Daily
Bread – August 3, 2005