The god of self

August 21, 2008

Sometimes, when we try to do the right thing it can be tempting to go back and do the wrong thing. You may have had some addiction that gnaws at you for years and then when you break free from it, all the problems of the world seem to come at you. Jeremiah had to face issues like that in his life. He had told the remnant that was left after Babylon hadconquered them that they should not go to Egypt or they would die there. They took Jeremiah and forced him to go with them. While there, the people figured they had enough of that crackpot and they decided to go back to there old ways.

Jeremiah 44:16-19 MKJV
(16) As for the Word that you have spoken to us in the name of Jehovah, we will not listen to you.
(17) But we will certainly do whatever thing goes forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings to her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our rulers, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem. For then we had plenty of food, and were well, and saw no evil.
(18) But since we stopped burning incense to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked all things, and have been devoured by the sword and by the famine.
(19) And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven, and poured out drink offerings to her, did we make our cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings to her without our men?


It is not clear to me why they would do this, I mean, God had gotten them through all the problems of surviving this war, and now that there was starting to be some stability, they decided to run back to what had gotten them in trouble in the first place.

Then I look at my life, and I realize, I am no better than they are. When problems ease up again I have to check myself to make sure that I am not taking the credit and leaving God behind. But even worse is when I decide that the problem is too big for God to handle and I have to do it myself. That is just not going to fly, for like the woman in today's verse, I am worshiping a god, I am worshiping the god of self.


Read through the Bible in historical order
Today
Jeremiah 41:1-45:5
Tomorrow
Jeremiah 46:1-48:47
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