Henderson Hills Baptist Church

We are digging deeper this week into the sin of making religion an idol. Remember that an idol can be anything good or bad that becomes your focus and draws your attention more than the Lord. So, when a good thing becomes a god thing, it then becomes a bad thing. This happens to all of us throughout our lives. Idols are more than prehistoric man’s primitive objects of devotion. They are our modern, popular, and familiar objects of devotion. They are replacement gods.

Both the Old Testament and New Testament are full of examples of idolatry. Jeremiah was a priest and prophet near the end of the Southern Kingdom of Judah. He prophesied during the reign of Josiah and the next four kings before the fall of Jerusalem. He was called from his mother’s womb to be God’s messenger for such a time as this.

Read Jeremiah 2:1-13:
The word of the LORD came to me, saying, “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. 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.” Hear the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the clans of the house of Israel. 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? 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?’ 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. 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. “Therefore I still contend with you, declares the LORD, and with your children’s children I will contend. 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. 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. Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the LORD, 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.

Let’s look at this briefly today and discover what God’s people were choosing to worship instead of God. God through Jeremiah is telling His people that He remembers their devotion to Him in the past. When they left Egypt and entered the promised land. The nation of Israel was holy, it gave worship the rightful place, nations surrounding her were destroyed, and God’s protection was upon her. Then, in verse 5, God makes a turn. He says that the people went far from Him, they went after worthlessness and became worthless. What would cause a people to forget their first love? What would draw their attention away from the God who had provided all to them? How could they so easily forget? The rest of the passage continues to illustrate how the people of God digressed in their love and intimacy with the Lord. Read carefully the last verse. God proclaims that the people did two things wrong. First, they turned their backs, forsook God. Next, they created cisterns of their own, ones that would not even hold water. What is God saying here? He is teaching us as Jeremiah was teaching the people of Judah, that it is easy to forget where our provision of life comes from. When we are desperate for help we cry out to God and He answers. We respond with love and devotion, but then, when life is calm, we have money in the bank, our kids are well, we forget that God is still the Almighty Faithful Powerful God who deserves our worship and devotion at all times in all places. Jesus is called the Living Water in John 4. He is the only object of true satisfaction and fulfillment we can find. When we create substitute objects of affection we are creating cisterns that won’t even hold water.

So how about you? Can you recall a time you loved the Lord more? Can you remember when you thought about God more than you do now? You are loved, constantly. Remember Who God is. Repent of the idols you have created as substitutes. Worship Him and Him alone today.

Respectfully,

Dennis