Get It In Gear

Jeremiah 2:1-13
The word of the Lord came to me, saying, 
2 “Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem, 
   Thus says the Lord,
   “I remember the devotion of your youth,
    your love as a bride,
    how you followed me in the wilderness,
    in a land not sown.
3 Israel was holy to the Lord,
    the firstfruits of his harvest.
    All who ate of it incurred guilt;
    disaster came upon them,
    declares the Lord.”

4 Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, 
   and all the clans of the house of Israel. 

5 Thus says the Lord:
   “What wrong did your fathers find in me
    that they went far from me,
    and went after worthlessness, and became worthless?
6 They did not say, ‘Where is the Lord
    who brought us up from the land of Egypt,
    who led us in the wilderness,
    in a land of deserts and pits,
    in a land of drought and deep darkness,
    in a land that none passes through,
    where no man dwells?’
7 And I brought you into a plentiful land
    to enjoy its fruits and its good things.
    But when you came in, you defiled my land
    and made my heritage an abomination.
8 The priests did not say, ‘Where is the Lord?’
    Those who handle the law did not know me;
    the shepherds transgressed against me;
    the prophets prophesied by Baal
    and went after things that do not profit.

9 “Therefore I still contend with you,
    declares the Lord,
    and with your children's children I will contend.
10 For cross to the coasts of Cyprus and see,
    or send to Kedar and examine with care;
    see if there has been such a thing.
11 Has a nation changed its gods,
    even though they are no gods?
    But my people have changed their glory
    for that which does not profit.
12 Be appalled, O heavens, at this;
    be shocked, be utterly desolate,
    declares the Lord,
13 for my people have committed two evils:
     they have forsaken me,
     the fountain of living waters,
     and hewed out cisterns for themselves,
     broken cisterns that can hold no water.

We are going to walk through these scriptures examining them very closely and building each day upon another. Today we will focus on verses 3-4.


3 Israel was holy to the Lord,
    the firstfruits of his harvest.
    All who ate of it incurred guilt;
    disaster came upon them,
    declares the Lord.”

4 Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, 
   and all the clans of the house of Israel. 

Keep in mind God is still remembering the devotion of Israel's youth. In verse 3 He says they were Holy. They are described as the first fruits of the Harvest. They were protected. Those who took from Israel received great guilt, disaster came upon them declares the Lord. Then He pleas, hear the Word of the Lord and calls specifically to the house of Jacob and the house of Israel. We must make this scripture come alive specifically in our walk. We must also remember the devotion of our youth and understand the things that were taking place. First, God made us holy by the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ. He considered us His children, adopted into the Kingdom of God because of our surrender. We were devoted to Him with an 'at all cost attitude.' We wanted what He wanted. We were excited about Jesus. We were on fire for the Lord. We were protected. God guarded us and shielded us as He taught us. When we heard about a Bible study we attended. When the Church was getting together we attended. When we had movie night, we attended. When the church was signing the Courageous Resolution, we signed. When there were things competing for our time, we put Jesus first. When struggles came in our life, we ran to the church, to Godly counsel, to the Word of God. When others sought to hurt us, God fought our battle. When others hurt us God protected us and dealt with the attack. Why, because we had placed ourselves under His umbrella of protection. We must remember these times because frankly we cannot be a group of excuse makers, having 50,000 reasons why not to do what God has called us to do. I have to be honest with you, I don't understand when everything is more important than Jesus and what He has called you to do. Listen, your actions tell the world and Jesus what is important to you. Some don't attend Bible study for countless reasons, but when softball season rolls around their schedule amazingly adjusts and they are all of a sudden free to play softball. Many missed revival last week for so many different excuses that I will not go into them. Here is what I will tell you, you didn't come to revival because whatever you were doing was more important to you. Now you can wrap it up in your pretty wrapping  paper of excuses; however, the truth is something or things were more important than you sitting before the Lord. Were the nights long, I guess from an outsider looking in, maybe, but the Spirit of God moved in God's house and could have stayed basking in the presence of the Lord much longer. Of course I didn't come to church punching a clock or scratching something off my to do list either. Revival was scheduled for over a month, did you even put it on your calendar. If you did, did it mean anything or when something better (SAD TO WRITE) came along did you quickly line right through the unnecessary thing called Revival.  You missed it, and for what? Revival sparked decisions that will last an eternity in many people's lives. Did what you did instead of Revival have an eternal link? I am not so rigid that I don't understand there were some very legitimate reasons for missing Revival, if that is you than consider this like the disclaimer on your bill...if you have already sent this in then disregard. But please make sure your legitimate reason is defined by Jesus Christ not your flesh. Well now here is where the rubber meets the road, you make all these decisions not to be Christ centered, then the storms of life come and you wonder why things are so messed up. I ask one thing of you, please don't blame God. God didn't make those decisions you did. So what now? Make different decisions! Seek ye first the Kingdom of heaven...It really is that simple. Get it in gear, your life and the life of those you love depends on it.


RAK CHAZAK,


Brother D 

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