Mastered

Tuesday 25^th August

Read Jeremiah 5:2-6

“Although they say, “As surely as the Lord lives,”
    still they are swearing falsely.’

³ Lord, do not your eyes look for truth?
    You struck them, but they felt no pain;
    you crushed them but they refused correction.
They made their faces harder than stone
    and refused to repent.
⁴ I thought, ‘These are only the poor;
    they are foolish,
for they do not know the way of the Lord,
    the requirements of their God.
⁵ So I will go to the leaders
    and speak to them;
surely they know the way of the Lord,
    the requirements of their God.’
But with one accord they too had broken off the yoke
    and torn off the bonds.
⁶ Therefore a lion from the forest will attack them,
    a wolf from the desert will ravage them,
a leopard will lie in wait near their towns
    to tear to pieces any who venture out,
for their rebellion is great
    and their backslidings many.” (NIVUK)

Jeremiah started his search amongst the poor and suffering but found only false declarations of faith and hearts inured against the Lord by their circumstances (v2-3). Despite the good news being more welcome amongst the poor and suffering – sometimes it hardens hearts (cf Revelation 9:20-21). He wonders if their unrighteousness is born of ignorance and illiteracy (v4) and searches amongst those who should know better (v5). Yet every last one of them had stepped away into sin. Rich and poor alike.

It was inevitable then that those who sought freedom from God should find themselves at nature’s furious mercy. Seeking their own good they left the security of God’s presence and found themselves unprotected and vulnerable. So often this is true. Thinking that we know best, that obedience to God is restrictive and life-diminishing, we go our own way only to find that the world around us is a dangerous place indeed. The animals, named by humanity (cf Genesis 3) and ordered beneath us by God, now rule over us. We are mastered rather than masters.

“When tempted, no one should say, ‘God is tempting me.’ For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; ¹⁴ but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. ¹⁵ Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” (James 1:13-15) (NIVUK)