Why do we stray?

I was reading the call of Jeremiah just now and its words jump off the page. What an honor it must have been to have the Creator of the universe say such powerful words spoken directly to you. But then I realized that if God said these things to Jeremiah then He's saying the same great things to you and I just in our own context of qualities He's equipped us with. "But you, dress yourself for work; arise, and say to them everything that I command you. Do not be dismayed by them, lest I dismay you before them. And I, behold, I make you this day a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land. They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, declares the Lord, to deliver you" (Jeremiah 1:17-19). Such powerful words spoken to you and I. It says "Be ready for each day- make it count. Do what God says, stay true to the Bible. Don't be afraid of man because God is definitely greater" God's saying, "Hey, I'm making you solid, a person with great stability that can withstand ANYTHING. I'm making you someone trustworthy and refined. Someone prepared and fearless. Trust me." It's such a great promise that God makes here in the first chapter of Jeremiah.

The part that struck me just now and considering the promise we just talked about is this: "What wrong did your fathers find in me that they went far from me, and went after worthlessness, and became worthless?...Has a nation changed its gods, even though there are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit (2:5,11). I realized that there in lies the problem: when we stray from God it's because we changed our god, we've exchanged our glory for something else. Our new god and glory could be wealth, getting what we want, temporary happiness in friends or being noticed, beauty, things, love, comfort or whatever else. We've changed our gods. It's not that God is far off, it's not even that something is wrong with our relationship with God; it's that something is wrong with our relationship with other things, other people that we are confusing to be our glory and our joy. If your life is unstable or unhappy- even if for a moment- make sure your priority, your God and your glory are set on Jesus. He's not going anywhere, only you are.

I see a lot of the people around me doing this and if you do too then here is Heaven's answer: "Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate" (2:12). Don't be ok with it, DON'T not saying anything. Don't get used to complacency, it's eating away at our culture. Don't be the one that feeds the virus. It's the small things in life that when let slide can hurt us worse than we know and before we realize it we've exchanged our glory and the people that love us have let us. Don't be ok with that.

What should matter

"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of gods, for His steadfast love endures forever.
Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for His steadfast love endures forever;
to Him who alone does great wonders, for His steadfast love endures forever;
to Him who by understanding made the heavens, for His steadfast love endures forever.....
to Him who divided the Red Sea in two, for His steadfast love endures forever...
to Him who led His people through the wilderness, for His steadfast love endures forever...
It is He who remembered us in our low estate, for His steadfast love endures forever;
and rescued us from our foes, for His steadfast love endures forever;
He who gives food to all flesh, for His steadfast love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of heaven, for His steadfast love endures forever. Psalm 136

Read the whole psalm at your next chance and let its words seep into you. Do you hear it? the repetitive nature of the psalm. When I read it yesterday morning I was originally irritated about having to repeat "for his steadfast love endures forever". I lost all context and relevance in the story line with saying that over and over. I couldn't concentrate. When I finished reading I decided that I would go back through and read only the first lines of each verse which is a story about the attributes of God, the great things He did, the trials Israel went through and how thoughout all of it God rescued them and was faithful. Ok, so I got about half way through reading the first lines when I realized that God wrote scripture perfectly. He planned it out, He made not only the books in perfect order but the chapters, verses and words. Each are there for a reason in that spot. I'm not meant to pick and choose. I'm meant to read it all. So because of this thought I started over at the beginning.

I read it aloud and focused on each word, regardless of repetition or not. I couldn't concentrate again on the story line and I realized something. His love endures forever took over the story. It took over the whole passage because it was in each verse. What if that line His love endures forever took over my life story line? I could no longer concentrate on each individual aspect of life- all my hurts, my desires, my frustrations, my likes and joys, my things that fire me up whether good or bad. I couldn't focus on any of that stuff because after every phrase, after every move, after every thought, after every action, after every glance came for His love endures forever. My story would blur, my focus would change, my attitude would be different and my eyes would be solely focused on Jesus because they would have to be. The only way I knew what the story was about in the psalm was by reading the lines without reading the key part. Without the key, without Gods love our story will be the focus and our lives and God's interaction will be the focus. But that shouldn't be. The focus is His love enduring forever. If I focus there, only that which is important will matter.