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Hello my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
I wonder if when you were growing up there was clarity and consistency in your home, your school, and other aspects of your young life? Clarity and consistency in what was right and wrong, what was true and untrue, what was good and what was bad. Sadly, in most places in our world confusion and inconsistency reigns, would you agree? Can you imagine trying to fly an airplane at night, or navigate the ocean without sight of land, or find your way out of a thick forest… without a compass, or if the compass you had was unreliable?
So how are you navigating the uncharted waters of life when everything around us is changing so rapidly? And how are you advising those people you influence, especially younger people… when there is so little clarity and consistency about the really important things in life?
Now we know that God doesn’t change, (Mal. 3:6) and God’s truth is unchanging. (Is. 45:19) But people and their opinions, attitudes, and even their reasoning changes constantly, isn’t that true? Yesterday we began gaining some wisdom from Jeremiah. He was born into a world very similar to ours. And God’s first powerful message given to Jeremiah, for challenging the people of Jerusalem, dealt head on with this matter of changing values, changing standards, changing truth. Look with me today at Jeremiah chapter 2, and I wonder if you’d agree, if we are willing to listen, this is God’s fresh challenge to us in December, as 2020 draws to a chaotic close.
As God looked back 800 years or so to the time when He rescued the Hebrew slaves out of Egypt, He says “I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved Me and followed Me through the wilderness…Israel was holy to the LORD…” (Jeremiah 2:2,3) So I invite you to look back into the past of your society, wherever you live. Was there a time in the past when right and wrong was more clear and generally honored then it is today? Was God and God’s truth more widely respected? So what happened where you live, that has unraveled society to the confused, frightening mess that it is in most places today?
God told Jeremiah to make it very clear: “This is what the LORD says: ‘What fault did your ancestors find in Me that they strayed so far from Me? They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves. They did not ask ‘where is the LORD’?” (Jer. 2:5,6) Now think about that… what does it look like when a family, a business, a school or University, a Church, a neighborhood actually drifts so badly away from their moral anchors that they become “worthless” to the society?
Look closely my friends, what are the driving forces in your society, which are shaping the thinking, the attitudes, the opinions, the values, and even the behavior of people where you live? Would you say it’s “social media” or politics or family or education or churches or friendship peer pressure? Are those influences helping to build an honorable society or are they breeding discord and confusion and moral drift?
And what about the leaders in all segments of your society? What influence do they have in shaping how we live? Listen to Jeremiah’s message from God to the people of His day: “The religious leaders did not ask “Where is the LORD?” Those who deal with the law did not know Me; the leaders rebelled against Me. The prophets prophesied by Baal, following worthless idols. Therefore I bring charges against you, declares the LORD.” (Jer. 2:8,9) So what do you see where you live my friends? How are the religious leaders influencing your city? What about those making and upholding the laws… that would be politicians, and lawyers and the courts and even law enforcement people? How are they influencing your society? And what about the business leaders or education leaders or health care leaders where you live? And what about the entertainers or highly paid athletes? Honestly now, who are the major influencers in your society and how are they impacting the way people think, and their values, and even their relationships with each other?
What charges did God bring against the people of Jerusalem? Look at vs 11 “Has a nation ever changed its gods? My people have exchanged their glorious God for worthless idols. My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken Me, the spring of living water, and they have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.” Do you see this happening in our day my friends? God had promised to BE all His people would need for living full and successful lives. He would provide for them, guide them, protect them, if they would learn His truths and live by them, and worship the LORD God alone. Rather, they turned away, abandoning God and His truths, and reshaping society according to what they wanted to be truth and right and wrong. But because opinions varied they continually changed what was true, right and wrong, and society collapses when chaos and anarchy reign. Does that sound familiar to December 2020?
Look at vs. 19 “Consider then and realize how evil and bitter it is for you when you forsake the LORD your God and have no awe, no respect for Me, declares the LORD Almighty.” Now that is a powerful, deeply penetrating statement of truth, would you agree? We can apply that to any society in the world, in any generation. Has this truth become reality yet in your community, your extended family, your society?
“As a thief is disgraced when he is caught, so the people of Israel are disgraced – they, their kings and their officials, their priests and prophets. …They have turned their backs to Me and not their faces; yet when they are in trouble they call out to Me, “Come and save us!” Where then are the gods you made for yourselves? Call out to them! Let them come and save you when you are in trouble…For the LORD has rejected those you trust.” (Jer. 2:26-28,37)
We don’t know exactly when Jeremiah gave this clear, condemning message in Jerusalem, but we do know king Josiah set about to lead a revolution of change, seeking to lead the people back to God’s truth, God’s standards of right and wrong. Further, Josiah led the people in removing from Jerusalem, and the surrounding area, all those things which had been part of their moral drift over the years. As we saw in 2 Chronicles 35 the result was a spiritual revival and societal reformation which yielded several years of peace and prosperity. It wasn’t the first time in their history. King Hezekiah 80 years before, had done the same, as had king Uzziah, 75 years before him.
So what’s the lesson here my friends for us today? Families, communities, even entire societies will drift away from God and God’s truth, led by the popular opinions of trendsetters. And always, when God is pushed out, the vacuum is quickly filled with enticing new ideas which will enable evil disguised as progress and freedoms, but in reality will lead the people into deep darkness of slavery to selfishness, greed and intolerance of God, God’s truth and even God’s people.
Jeremiah’s warnings from God were initially heard and repentant change saved that generation from judgment. But the reformation lasted only one generation and after king Josiah died, things unraveled again very quickly. We’ll see that harsh reality tomorrow. It challenges us to own this important truth: We can’t go back and change history. We can learn from history and challenge the drift in our generation! The future will be powerfully impacted by the decisions we make now.
May I invite you to take your journal and as you read through Jeremiah 2, make some notes about the specifics in your society, in your generation, which God is addressing. What does God want you to do about the drift that you see in your extended family, your community, your society?
Oh Lord Jesus, help us to see the way YOU see the world in which we live. Help us to make the changes that You need us to make, to become a God honoring people and save our society from drift. In Jesus Name…
Click to read today’s chapter: Jeremiah 2. (At the top you can choose a different translation.)
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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