Jeremiah 7:1-8
This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Stand at the gate of the Lord’s house and there proclaim this message: ‘Hear the word of the Lord, all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship the Lord. 3 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Reform your ways and your actions, and I will let you live in this place. 4 Do not trust in deceptive words and say, “This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord!” 5 If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, 6 if you do not oppress the alien, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, 7 then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your forefathers for ever and ever. 8 But look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless.”

God lays it out pretty straightforwardly here: “Straighten up, do as you’re told, and all will be well. Keep doing what you’re doing, disobeying Me and trying to deceive Me, and I will not refrain from reprimanding you.”

But The people of Judah, unfortunately, were too busy following other local deities, killing, and being cruel, all while paying only halfhearted lip service to God. They were even resorting to repeating useless phrases over and over, as if that alone could garner them righteousness. God could see straight through that deceptive behavior, and so He tells Jeremiah, one of His prophets, to literally lay down the Law with these people. All the people of Judah would have to do is follow what God said–it seems laughably easy!

These days, however, we modern folk find it just about as hard to follow what God says. What He says hasn’t changed any, but our drive to be “in charge of our own lives” hasn’t changed much either. We like to pick and choose what to follow and what to ignore out of convenience and self-serving motives, rather than sticking with God 100%. We all need Jeremiah’s message from God, even those of us who are in church every time the doors open–we all need to be reminded of what God requires of us and how He expects His people to behave.