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"Do
Not Trust In These"
“Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense
to Baal, and walk after other gods whom you do not know, 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 7:9-10).
Those words were stated some 2600 years ago to fleshly
Israelites, but they might be just as appropriately addressed to some
today who profess to be of spiritual Israel. They “walk after other
gods,” but then “come and stand before” the true God on the
Lord’s day with the attitude, “We are delivered to do all these
abominations.” Whereas the Israelite of Jeremiah’s day trusted in
the temple (and the approval of God they thought it represented), the
‘Christian’ of whom we speak trusts in the external forms of his
religion to “deliver” him to engage in his idolatries. “I am a
New Testament Christian,” he is heard saying. “I worship as the Lord
directs in His word. I sing without a mechanical instrument. I partake
of the Lord’s supper each first day of the week. I give of my means. I
attend all the services of the local church. I worship at a church that
is ‘sound’ on all the ‘issues.’” In the performance of these external
acts alone he places his trust.
To borrow the words of Jeremiah, “Do not trust in these!”
(7:4) Oh yes, worshipping as the Lord directs in His word is vital to a
Christian. The importance of such cannot be denied nor overstated, and
we would not have the reader understand otherwise (John 4:24; 14:15).
But if a Christian believes that such somehow grants him an indulgence
to “walk after other gods,” he is grievously mistaken. If he watches
ungodly, immoral TV shows and movies at home, engages in filthy humor
and/or gossip at his workplace, ‘worships’ the ‘almighty dollar’ (and
what it buys) at the mall, dresses like the immodestly appareled world
on the playing field or beach -- if he gives himself over to these gods
and then comes before the Lord on Sunday, thinking that his weekly dose
of ‘worshipping in truth’ will in some way “deliver” him through the
week to worship and serve these others, he is as wrong as wrong can be.
Or as Jeremiah put it, “Behold, you trust in lying words that cannot
profit” (7:8).
Many today need to listen soberly to these words: “For
if you thoroughly amend your ways and your doings... then
I will cause you to dwell in this place...” (7:5,7). The Lord
demands that we devote our lives completely to Him -- not just a few
hours a week. If a change isn’t made in the lives of some, we wonder how
they think the Lord will “cause them to dwell”--- in
heaven!
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your
own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and
He shall direct your paths” (Prov. 3:5).
--Mike Noble
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