Throughout the Old Testament God called His wayward people to repent and return to Him. He never stopped pursuing and loving them. Often they would promise, “Everything the LORD has said we will do,” as in Exodus 24:7. But not long after, they’d be complaining, setting up idols, and longing to mix with the other pagan nations. They wanted to obey, but they quickly forgot God’s faithfulness and gave in to temptation.
Isn’t that a lot like us in the church today? We want to be godly people, but we keep accepting more and more sin as tolerable, and we find the world’s offerings alluring. In effect, we tell our Father who loves us, “We see the good way, but we will not walk in it.” Today’s Jeremiah passage says we are at a crossroads. It is the same one God’s people have stood at since the beginning of time: will I choose the path of my Creator, or the path of my own will?
God never accepts sin, and we who are His church must not either. He keeps forgiving us and calling us back to Him, to walk in the good way. Follow where He leads!