Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by
a perpetual backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they refuse to return.”
Insights:
The seventh evidence of a backslidden heart is you have a filthy
heart. Jeremiah states in verses
twenty-two and twenty-three, “"Although you wash yourself with lye And use
much soap, The stain of your iniquity is before Me," declares the Lord
GOD. "How can you say, 'I am not defiled, I have not gone after
the Baals '? Look at your way in the valley! Know what you have done! You are a
swift young camel entangling her ways.”
We have to go back to verse twenty to understand why Jeremiah has
written these two verses. What we find
back there is Judah had played the harlot under every green tree with the false
god Baal. Now, however, they are
attempting to hide their filthiness from the Lord God with exterior cleaning
solutions to no avail. We are guilty of
the same thing. A backslidden heart
pretends and act like he is really spiritual and has this relationship with the
Lord, but down deep he is nothing but a sin filled, self-serving, rebel set
against God. The eighth evidence is you
have a deceiving heart. Jeremiah wrote
in verses twenty-seven and twenty-eight, “Who say to a tree, 'You are my father,'
And to a stone, 'You gave me birth.' For 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.' "But where are your gods Which you made
for yourself? Let them arise, if they can save you In the time of your trouble;
For according to the number of your cities are your gods, O Judah.” Their thankless, insensitive and pagan heart
led them to the next logical step of creating their own, little “g”, gods. You may be saying to yourself, “We know that
wood and stone statues are not really God and we would never do that.” Really…, but we are guilty of putting other
things and people in the place of the one True God; and therefore, create,
little “g”, gods in our lives. They can
be children or grandchildren. They can
be sports. They can be hobbies. They can be work. They can be TV and the Internet. They can be anything that takes the focus off
of Jesus and places it on something else.
If you have deceived yourself into believing you are serving the Lord
when these other things are truly in front of Him, then you need to repent.
Questions:
- Are you attempting to cleanse your sin by your own
means and power?
- Have you deceived yourself into believing that you truly are following after the Lord, when every decision you make is contrary to His will and ways?
Prayer: Father, let my
heart be honest and true. For I am
completely incapable of cleansing myself and am desperate for You. Amen.
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