My wife Wendy and I have been married for 25 years. We’re together at a week-long conference in Fort Myers, FL, at Next Level Church, led by Pastor Matt and Sarah Keller. We came down a day early to be together. She’s getting her toenails done, and then we’re going to dinner and a movie.
Getting away to celebrate one another regularly refreshes our commitment and brings joy to our lives. We’re so different in many ways, and on our own we would have drifted apart long ago. But we have some super glue: our relationship with Jesus. We want to love one another as the Savior has loved us.
In Jeremiah’s sermon in chapter 2, he mentions Israel’s early devotion, the honeymoon phase. But something happened in their marriage with the Lord.
Forgotten Goodness
Jeremiah 2:5-6 – 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, who brought us up out of Egypt…”
Do you hear the Lord’s heart for his bride? It is the cry of a spurned lover. “What happened? What did I do wrong? Why did you walk out on me? We had a great thing going?”
I’m reminded of Vince Gill’s song, “Nobody Answers When I Call Your Name?” He comes home from work, and there’s a note. She decided to leave. You can hear the steel guitar crying as Vince sings, “Oh, the lonely sound of my voice calling is driving me insane. Just like rain, the tears keep falling. ’Cause nobody answers when I call your name.”
Jeremiah 2:6-7 – They did not ask, ‘Where is the Lord, who brought us up out of Egypt and led us through the barren wilderness, through a land of deserts and ravines, a land of drought and utter darkness, a land where no one travels and no one lives?’ I brought you into a fertile land to eat its fruit and rich produce. But you came and defiled my land and made my inheritance detestable.
She up and left and walked into the arms of a worthless, sponging, stinky, freeloader. Jeremiah’s flabbergasted. The Lord had an actual track record. He was a promise keeper. He got up early and came home late, and did the dishes after supper. He led them through the desert, through times of drought and darkness. And then the Promised Land. They moved out of the trailer park into a country home with a wrap-around porch on 50 acres.
What happened when they made the big move. It was like moving from a tent in the Mojave Desert, to a ranch in the central California valley at harvest time. Instead of manna nuggets, they could grow a garden, and enjoy homemade grape jelly on fresh cinnamon raisin bread. Soon after settling down, we read this in the book of Judges.
Judges 2:11 – After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel. Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord and served the Baals.
She heard about a new man in town. His name was Baal, the god of the harvest. Unlike Yahweh, Baal had a visual form that was impressive. Baal was pictured with a human body, and the horned head of a bull. His right arm was lifted with a lightening bolt in his hand.
Her thoughts probably went something like this, “They say Baal is in charge here. What a stud. Look at all of this abundance. We had to spend 40 years in the desert. Let’s give Baal a try and see what happens.” Their covenant relationship of love and grace began to feel like a restrictive burden, and she gave her heart away to a powerless idol.
That decision would plague Israel until the Babylonians destroyed the city and took her exile. God raised up Jeremiah the prophet to call her to come home again, but she wouldn’t listen.
There are many applications we could make here. But let’s ask this question. How do we keep our love for Jesus burning bright and our hearts uncluttered with idols that are powerless to save and satisfy? Phonies like Baal are still around calling for our devotion; the gods of wealth, status, prominence, pleasure, sex, and perversion in all its many forms. Like Baal, they’ll say anything to worm their way into our affections, but they never deliver. May we take time to remember and celebrate our Savior Jesus. We can do that daily in our quiet time. They are called devotions because they stir up our devotion.
We can make each Sunday an anniversary experience as we bring an offering of gratitude in worship. Hey, if you are a once-a-month attender, your relationship with Jesus is probably on life support. Let’s make a date to come over to God’s house with other believers and tell our Savior again, “Nothing has changed. My heart is yours. I love you Jesus. I remember when we weren’t together. What a mess! I was empty inside. But when you came into my life everything changed. Thank you Jesus!”