One Of God’s Toughest Jobs….

I think one of God’s toughest jobs is convincing human beings that sin is harmful. When we sin it’s like self-inflicting pain upon ourselves, then wondering why it happened, and looking for someone else to blame. Watching us harm ourselves has to be rough. I mean creating something for a purpose and watching it be used to serve other purposes never intended, has to be frustrating. I guess parents get a dose of this when they raise children. If they don’t experience it when they are young, the teenage years will certainly bring it about. If only we could get this. Unfortunately, human beings have short-term memory problems; we forget our shortcomings at the expense of our relationship with God. And when we do “get it”, we experience God’s frustration when we try to convey this truth to others. I’m just grateful to God for His short-term memory, He calls it GRACE.

But I will be merciful only if you stop your evil thoughts and deeds and start treating each other with justice; 6 only if you stop exploiting foreigners, orphans, and widows; only if you stop your murdering; and only if you stop harming yourselves by worshiping idols. 7 Then I will let you stay in this land that I gave to your ancestors to keep forever.8 “ ‘Don’t be fooled into thinking that you will never suffer because the Temple is here. It’s a lie! 9 Do you really think you can steal, murder, commit adultery, lie, and burn incense to Baal and all those other new gods of yours, 10 and then come here and stand before Me in My Temple and chant, “We are safe!”–only to go right back to all those evils again? 11 Don’t you yourselves admit that this Temple, which bears My name, has become a den of thieves? Surely I see all the evil going on there. I, the Lord, have spoken! 12 “ ‘Go now to the place at Shiloh where I once put the Tabernacle that bore My name. See what I did there because of all the wickedness of My people, the Israelites. 13 While you were doing these wicked things, says the Lord, I spoke to you about it repeatedly, but you would not listen. I called out to you, but you refused to answer. 14 So just as I destroyed Shiloh, I will now destroy this Temple that bears My name, this Temple that you trust in for help, this place that I gave to you and your ancestors. 15 And I will send you out of My sight into exile, just as I did your relatives, the people of Israel.’ Jeremiah 7:5-15

19 Am I the One they are hurting?” asks the Lord. “Most of all, they hurt themselves, to their own shame.” Jeremiah 7:19