When
the worshippers approached the temple and saw Jeremiah standing at
the gate, I
imagine they expected a pat on the back for showing up so
regularly. Wrong!
In fact, God sent him with a completely different message.
“’This
is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘Reform your
ways and your
actions… Do not trust in deceptive words and say, “This is the
temple of the
Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord!” If you really change your ways
and your
actions and deal with each other justly, if you do not oppress the
foreigner,
the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this
place, and
if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, then I will let
you live in
this place, in the land I gave your ancestors for ever and ever.
But look, you
are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless’” (Jeremiah
7:3-8).
If
they
thought that was harsh, it was about to get worse!
“’Will
you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to
Baal and
follow other gods you have not known, and then come and stand
before me in this
house, which bears my Name, and say, “We are safe”—safe to do all
these
detestable things… I have been watching!’ declares the Lord”
(Verses 9-11).
Somehow
God’s people thought that as long as they showed up for worship,
it did not
matter what they did the rest of the week.
This attitude brings one of the most shocking responses
from God in the
entire Bible. He tells
Jeremiah, “Do not
pray for this people nor offer any plea or petition for them; do
not plead with
me, for I will not listen to you: (Verse 16).
God, who is “full of compassion and mercy” (James 5:11),
was so
embarrassed by his people’s actions that he refused to listen to
them!
Do
you
see a warning for the church today?
While
Sunday
morning worship is important, our worship must not end there! If we are not honouring God
on by the way we
live on Tuesday, no one, including God himself, will care what we
say on Sunday. When our
lives do not match our teaching, we
invalidate our faith and make it unbelievable to others (See James
2:14-17).
You
are
to be salt and light in this world (Matthew 5:13-16).
That
will not happen if you leave your faith at the church building.
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