The voice in the doorway!

Jeremiah had a warning for the people of his day:

“Hear the word of the Lord, all you of Judah who enter in at these gates to worship the Lord!’

“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:

“Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. Do not trust in these lying words, saying, ‘The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are these” Jer.7.2-4

Ironically, those going into the temple thought they probably were the ones actually doing ok in terms of following God in their day…not like everyone else around them!

It was those others out there who were the problem..not them.

They were the righteous ones.

Well, that is what the temple leaders were telling them..so it must be right!

After all, they were different weren’t they? They were the ones still going to the temple to worship and offer sacrifices to God.

However, God thought differently.

As Jeremiah pointed out they were not actually following God in obedience to His ways.

They were just paying lip service.

They too needed to repent and change their ways.

They were even worshipping false idols and false gods.

They had a foot in both camps.

If this sounds a familiar message and relevant for today it is.

The prophets in the Old Testament were continually warning the people that God desired true followers whose hearts were lined up with God and whose actions were just and righteous.

That is the role of the prophetic ministry..to turn people back to God.

Jesus himself had the same message for the religious leaders of His day.

He called them hypocrites who were white washed tombs full of dead bones. All show and no righteous fruit or deeds.

As God said to them their audacity was:

“and then come and stand before Me in this house which is called by My name, and say, ‘We are delivered to do all these abominations’? Jeremiah 7:10

We are not redeemed, cleansed and sanctified by the sacrifice and blood of Jesus Christ to live just as we lived before with a foot in the world and a foot in the Kingdom of God.

We are called to live radically different lives.

The grace and blood of Jesus is not a licence to sin and keep sinning, treating the blood of Jesus with contempt like a do over.

There is a difference in wilfully being disobedient and sinning. In having no intention in our hearts to change and obey God’s ways but to live as we please. God knows when we desire to change but are in that process of overcoming to walk in freedom and need His help.

Our hearts should be pierced when we do not follow the commands of Christ to love the Lord our God with all our hearts and our neighbours as ourselves.

To grow in the knowledge of Our Saviour and to walk in His footsteps.

Is this a challenge.

Yes it is a massive challenge to live and act differently to the world and to desire change but it leads us into the fulness of Jesus and the life that Jesus died to give us…a true relationship with Father God which is more precious and valuable than any earthly thing.

Am I there yet..no but I do not want my heart to become hard to who Jesus has called me to be.

I do not want to take his sacrifice and the privileges I now benefit from for granted.

I do not want to become numb to the amazing, wonderful, incredible truth that I am now a child of God who has an intimate relationship with God.

I can come into the presence of a holy and righteousness God because of Jesus.

The people Jeremiah spoke to were not just going through the motions but were actively being deceived by the leaders of their day that what they were doing was going to be sufficient to protect them from the judgment to come.

The bible says that Judgment starts at the house of the Lord.

We have a righteous judge in our Lord Jesus Christ whose judgment is pure, fair and righteous.

It’s time to get our houses in order.

What is being preached to us, what is being taught us, who do they say Jesus is?

If Jesus is not presented as God and the only way to Father God we are led astray.

If Jesus is being sidelined and not glorified we are led astray.

If the teaching is all about becoming prosperous in material things and successful in the world’s eyes using worldly measures, we are led astray.

If the teaching is about seeking the Father’s hand not pleasing His heart then we are being led astray.

Good things may be blessings from our Father’s hand along the way but they are not the destination.

Father God is my destination in and through His son, Jesus Christ who is the gateway.

No-one can come to Father God unless they come through Jesus.

To know Jesus is to know the Father.

To see Jesus is to see the Father.

Who is the voice standing in the doorway warning us today to get our houses in order and turn our eyes and hearts back to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Will we be that voice.