Impressing God

“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.’” (Jeremiah 3:6-11 NIV)

If you have ever been tempted to think that by going to church or being involved in a Bible study you can somehow impress God, think again.  In this passage, you have the story of two nations—Israel and Judah.  Israel has given up on God and chased after various idols for comfort and protection. Judah, on the other hand, continues seek the Lord through religious practice, or so it appears. The Lord describes Israel as faithless, but calls Judah unfaithful.  And then the kicker: “Faithless Israel is more righteous than unfaithful Judah.”

One would think that religious activity would count for something.  It’s hard to believe, putting it into a modern context, that someone who has turned his back on the Lord and parties a lot, that sleeps with his girlfriend is considered more righteous than the guy who is a faithful churchgoer. Yet, it appears that is what the Lord is saying.  So what’s going on?

There is a theme throughout the Scriptures that God desires our hearts. He is more interested in what is behind our actions than the actions themselves.  He loathes pretense.  He is not impressed with religious activity that is not authentic and motivated by love for Him.  He can’t stand it.  That is why He says Israel is more righteous than Judah.  He is speaking hyperbolically, of course.  There is nothing righteous about Israel, but at least they are living their lives honestly.  The Lord much prefers that to people pretending to be devoted when in fact their hearts are far from Him.  

Consider today whether or not you are living honestly.  Does your religious activity truly reflect a heart devoted to God or is it merely an attempt to cover over a heart that is going its own way?   Know that the Lord is far more interested in what is going on inside of you than how you make things look on the outside.  And far more impressed when He finds righteousness there.

© Jim Musser 2014