Jeremiah 2:3, 13, 27
Israel was holiness (something set apart from ordinary purposes) dedicated to the Lord, the firstfruits of His harvest.
For My people have committed two evils, they have forsaken Me, the Fountain of living waters and have dug for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns which cannot hold water.
For they have turned their backs to Me and not their faces. My people have forgotten Me days without number.
A people set apart from the ordinary. That was Israel and that is us as Gods sons and daughters. He calls us His first fruits, giving us an identity as those committed to Him above anyone or anything else. As seasons passed, the fruits became rotten, the people’s hearts preferring other gods. They forgot the Lord, days without end. They rejected the Lord, infinitely. We have all felt the pain of rejection. We have all been the cause, and the casualty. Our Father is familiar with our feelings.
The Israelites turned their back on God and their face toward idols. His first fruits, chose Him for second place.
Forsaking the Fathers love, they surrendered their hearts to self made cisterns. The vessels of Holiness, lost distinctiveness and became idolatrous.
We surrender our identity to our idols. We surrender our security to our idols. Idols gain complete control over how we navigate life and how we navigate Truth. A heart of idolatry leads to a life of idleness.
Kingdom Inactivity.
Kingdom Indifference.
Idleness leads us into disobedience, which leads to deeper deception. As Kris Vallotton says, we can easily say we are a follower of Jesus, but many times, He’s not going, the way we have chosen.
An obedient heart is always in forward motion.
Follow motion.
An obedient heart advances.
A life of idolatry fuels a lifestyle of fear, because any god, but the Living God, is not trustworthy. We shake our heads in confusion at the idol worship in the Old Testament, but nod our heads in agreement at our unspoken modern day idols of the heart. Our deep need for love is the driving force behind each idol, and we meet that need with acceptable modern day methodology. Careers, relationships, money, athleticism, comfort, easily become the motivations of our heart. Seemingly firm places to anchor identity, yet actually shifting sand security. The goal in idolatry, is security. Where we perceive security, we experience acceptance. Where we experience acceptance, we sense love.
We are wired for love, so our earliest experiences, no matter how dysfunctional, are converted to love. That conversion affects how we view love AND how we pursue love.
We become imprisoned by our idols, and where captivity reigns, freedom is vanquished. The idols we chose, keep us from our destiny, He has chosen.
God is jealous for His children.
You shall not bow down to them (idols) or serve them, for I the Lord God, am a jealous God. Ex. 20:5
Unlike fleshly jealousy, Holy jealousy is motivated from protection FOR us, not selfishness OF us. God’s jealousy is rooted in His love, which is the only love that satisfies our souls.
And as with every good Father, God gives us instruction when we find ourselves immersed in idol-ness.
Repentance leads to rescue. Turning our backs on our idols, positions our face toward our Father, and our hearts for freedom.
Heart rescue happens in repentance.
Therefore, this is what the LORD says, “If you return, I will restore you; you will stand in My Presence. Jeremiah 15:19
True repentance opens the door to Presence, flooding our false cisterns with pure light. Light that drives out the darkness of shame.
Repentance frees us from the shame that binds us to our idols.
The Lords unfailing love surrounds the man that trusts in Him. Psalm 32:10
As Light scatters the fear of exposure, LOVE comes to our rescue.
Unfailing LOVE that surrounds.
Unfailing LOVE that satisfies.
Fling Your Fleece 