Searching for that Missing Person

The people of Jerusalem wanted “normalcy,” but their normal was unacceptable to God. Their normalcy was destroying their country. Does that sound familiar?

They were not serving the Lord with gladness. They were not coming before Him singing. [1] They were hearers, not doers of God’s Word, which God categorizes as self-deception. [2]

God told Jeremiah that if he found one righteous person, He would forgive the people. [3] So, he searched for that missing person. His hunger and thirst for righteousness drove him to make a comprehensive quest, but, alas, there was none righteous, no not one.

The Lord declared, ‘From their least even to their greatest, everyone is given to covetousness. From the prophet even to the priest, everyone deals falsely. They have also healed the hurt of my people superficially, saying, ‘Peace, peace!’ when there is no peace.’ [4] Their pursuit of popular perks upset any hope of spiritual improvement.

The people of Jerusalem wanted to have God on their own terms. They burned imported sweet cane to Him. They incorrectly assumed that He liked sugar. Insubordination, however, is not sweet to God. The Lord was searching for people who loved Him and loved His ways.

God was testing them. One more plea! One more warning! Will they turn back to Me? God wanted a return to ‘normalcy’ in His relationship with them, but they stayed away from Him. Now, it was their turn to have “normalcy” allude them.

‘Men will call them rejected silver, because the Lord has rejected them.’ [5] When the Lord tested what kind of metal that they were made of, He found only dross. When a refiner is to able to see his reflection in gold, he knows the gold is pure. God found no reflection of Himself in them.

The Jerusalemites were missing in action. They placed a relationship with God in the inactive file. God offered them a way out… ‘Return to Me!’ But they refused to return.

‘Dear Heavenly Father, please remove the sin in our lives that keeps us distant from You and from walking in Your ways. We are unable to remove it. We want to be missing in action. We want to serve You, and bring You glory. We want to be pure gold for You. In the Name of Your Son Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen!’”

[1] Psalm 100:2
[2] James 1:22
[3] Jeremiah 5:1
[4] Jeremiah 6:13-14
[5] Jeremiah 6:30