For a full description of the (Y3) reading plan, see the “About” page.
- What attributes of God’s character does this passage reveal?
- How does the passage point to Jesus?
- How should the truth of this passage change me?
- How do the events of today’s reading help you better understand the grand narrative of Scripture?
Jer. 1-2
God’s people abandoned the God who saved them. They found fault in His perfection. They exchanged their glorious God for useless idols, the works of their own hands. And they forgot the One to whom they owed their devotion. Sure, they came begging for His help when disaster hit, but then went right back to doing their own thing. They refused to give Him their hearts, yet saw nothing wrong with their actions.
People today are no different. Their hearts go their own way, ignoring God and insisting that their way is good. Then, when things go wrong, they want God to step in and save. When He doesn’t, they blame Him and hurl accusations against Him, questioning His goodness and justice. The truth is, however, that God is not the problem. We are. What God told His people is true for all who go their own way. “Have you not brought this on yourself by abandoning the LORD your God while He was leading you along the way?…Your own evil will discipline you; your own apostasies will reprimand you.” (Jer. 2:17, 19). We can’t jump out of an airplane with no parachute and blame the plane for the damage.
Jer. 3
I once had a co-worker ask me how a loving God could abandon people to hell. He equated it to a father destroying his child just because the child wouldn’t obey him. How could any loving father do that? However, I see the Bible telling us that God is first a husband, then a father. I wonder what that co-worker would say a person should do about a promiscuously unfaithful spouse. Would we expect anyone to stay with a spouse who refused to be faithful? I think not.
Anyone who does not faithfully give their whole heart to God prostitutes themselves with regard to Him. Yet still He calls us to return to Him. He says, “I will not look on you with anger, for I am unfailing in my love…I will not be angry forever. Only acknowledge your guilt” (Jer. 3:12b-13a). Yeah, that sounds like a loving God to me! As for the child analogy, we don’t become God’s children until we die to ourselves and live in Christ, God’s Son. And the Bible assures us that God never abandons His children.