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- Oct 26, 2007
- Messages
- 11,642
We will do whatever we want. We will burn incense and pour out liquid offerings to the Queen of Heaven just as much as we like--just as we, and our ancestors, and our kings and officials have always done in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. For in those days we had plenty to eat, and we were well off and had no troubles! But ever since we quit burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and stopped worshiping her with liquid offerings, we have been in great trouble and have been dying from war and famine." Jeremiah 44:17-18 NLT
Jeremiah had spent decades imploring his people to return to the Lord. He had repeatedly explained that all the famines, wars, and troubles they'd experienced were God chastising His wayward people, to turn them back to Him. Now, in the last, dying days of their nation, the Jews decided to return and worship the deity they'd neglected--the "queen of heaven," the Babylonian goddess Ishtar!
If you've ever tried chasing a chicken into a barn, you'll understand Jeremiah's intense sense of frustration. The chicken runs this way and that way, and that way and this way--every way but through the barn door.
Are you frustrating God by placing your trust in a false hope, a mistaken worldview, a wrong doctrine, and refusing to return to Him? Don't insist on putting your trust in things other than the Lord, or in the end you'll arrive at the wrong conclusion. Your train will finally pull into the station, but it will be the wrong station. Listen to God today, and return to Him.
Prayer: Lord, may I be sensitive to Your Spirit and get the point You're trying to communicate to me. May I draw close to You in every area of my life.
Jeremiah had spent decades imploring his people to return to the Lord. He had repeatedly explained that all the famines, wars, and troubles they'd experienced were God chastising His wayward people, to turn them back to Him. Now, in the last, dying days of their nation, the Jews decided to return and worship the deity they'd neglected--the "queen of heaven," the Babylonian goddess Ishtar!
If you've ever tried chasing a chicken into a barn, you'll understand Jeremiah's intense sense of frustration. The chicken runs this way and that way, and that way and this way--every way but through the barn door.
Are you frustrating God by placing your trust in a false hope, a mistaken worldview, a wrong doctrine, and refusing to return to Him? Don't insist on putting your trust in things other than the Lord, or in the end you'll arrive at the wrong conclusion. Your train will finally pull into the station, but it will be the wrong station. Listen to God today, and return to Him.
Prayer: Lord, may I be sensitive to Your Spirit and get the point You're trying to communicate to me. May I draw close to You in every area of my life.
