May the mumbling commence!
It’s “The Faithless and the Unfaithful.” It sounds a lot like a new soap opera. But it is the situation on Israel and Judah respectively in the days of the prophet Jeremiah. Which is better – to be faithless or unfaithful? I would think that there is a measure of faith in the unfaithful, so that would be better, right? Right?!? Not so fast. Read from Jeremiah 3:6-13.
During the reign of King Josiah, the Lord said to me, "Have you seen what faithless Israel has done? She has gone up on every high hill and under every spreading tree and has committed adultery there. I thought that after she had done all this she would return to me but she did not, and her unfaithful sister Judah saw it. I gave faithless Israel her certificate of divorce and sent her away because of all her adulteries. Yet I saw that her unfaithful sister Judah had no fear; she also went out and committed adultery. Because Israel's immorality mattered so little to her, she defiled the land and committed adultery with stone and wood. In spite of all this, her unfaithful sister Judah did not return to me with all her heart, but only in pretense," declares the Lord.
The Lord said to me, "Faithless Israel is more righteous than unfaithful Judah. Go, proclaim this message toward the north:
'Return, faithless Israel,' declares the Lord,
'I will frown on you no longer,
for I am merciful,' declares the Lord,
'I will not be angry forever.
Only acknowledge your guilt –
you have rebelled against the Lord your God,
you have scattered your favors to foreign gods
under every spreading tree,
and have not obeyed me,'" declares the Lord.
It is better to have no pretense than it is to do things sporadically – without rhyme or reason. The faithless are more righteous than the unfaithful. Think about it. What kind of spouse would you wish for? Would you want a faithless spouse who did nothing to hide adulteries? Or would you wish for a deceptive spouse who carefully tries to hide the unfaithfulness of adulteries? Less harm will come of the out rightly brazen. This spouse can be easily seen as faithless and be sent away – just as Israel was sent first into exile.
More pain and suffering comes from the spouse who attempts to keep a pretense of love and relationship. It is harder to let this spouse go, yet it is painful to stay in the relationship. Little do we know what to expect from this spouse. Trust atrophies. The unfaithful spouse eventually falls further from grace than the faithless because more was expected of the unfaithful.
These are hard words for those of us who travel the road of faithfulness. I am glad for Jesus walking along with me on the road of faith. While there is much to gain, there is also much to lose. Make no mistake – faith is a great risk. To fall short into unfaithfulness is worse in ways than not trying at all. I tremble at the thought.
Even as a count my blessings of my Lord and Savior Jesus in my life and the gift of the Holy Spirit, I must also acknowledge my own guilt. Help me, O Holy Spirit, to recognize when my way of life rebels against the call of God in my life. Help me to recognize and purge all the idols in my life so that it is easier for me to obey wholeheartedly the call of the Lord in my life. Help me to leave all pretenses behind. Because faith in the Lord is a risk worth taking!
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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