Lamentations

“They have turned their back to Me, and not their face. But in the time of their trouble they will say, ‘Arise and save us.’ My people have forgotten Me days without number.” [1]

Lament! God the Creator and Sustainer of the universe laments. He grieves. People that He poured out so much love for... people that He cared for deeply... they turned their back on Him. They forgot Him. They only remember Him when they need help.

Is loving people a worthy cause when they are so prone to grieve the heart of a loving God?

The people of whom God speaks of in Jeremiah’s prophecy did pay a price for going their own way..

“Your own wickedness will correct you, and your backslidings will rebuke you.

Know therefore and see that it is an evil and bitter thing that you have forsaken the Lord your God, and the fear of Me is not in you, says the Lord God of hosts.” [2]

The bad oats they sowed produced a harvest of trouble for them.

Not only this, but they embittered by their misbehavior the most loving being in the universe, namely, God their Creator and Heavenly Father. “The fear of Me is not in you...” They gave God disrespect instead of glory, praise and grateful service.

How often have we done to God what Jeremiah’s people did to Him?

May the Lord grant us grace to repent so that when He corrects us, we do not harden our hearts, but instead, ask Him to forgive us and to teach us how to love Him as He loves us.

[1] Jeremiah 2:27, 31
[2] Jeremiah 2:19