If you don’t understand how amazing God is, you’ll never understand how terrible our sin is, and, therefore how amazing Jesus love is for us.
Has a nation changed its gods,
even though they are no gods?
But my people have changed their glory
for that which does not profit.
Be appalled, O heavens, at this;
be shocked, be utterly desolate,
declares the Lord,
for my people have committed two evils:
they have forsaken me,
the fountain of living waters,
and hewed out cisterns for themselves,
broken cisterns that can hold no water.
Jeremiah 2:11-13
In Jeremiah 2:11-13, we see God make a few comparisons just to show us how idiotic choosing to sin really is when compared to the amazing glory and love of God. In verse 11, God starts by noting that we have exchanged the one true God for fictional creations of the human mind. It’s like giving up a wonderful friendship to become friends with an inanimate object. This is literal idolatry, but as I’ve discussed in the past, all sin boils down to idolatry: putting something ahead of God and his will.
Then God says we “have changed [our] glory for that which does not profit.” As a believer, we ought to know full well that when we sin, we lose. We have a greater purpose from God that could bring lasting joy, but instead we give our time and energy up to simply gain temporary highs that have no eternal value or satisfaction. That’s like giving up a wonderful, fulfilling, profitable job to start a band despite the fact that no one in the band has any musical talent whatsoever; you’re trading what is good for silly things because they seem fun.
Finally, in verse 13, we come to clearest picture that Jeremiah chapter 2 has to give us.
they have forsaken me,
the fountain of living waters,
and hewed out cisterns for themselves,
broken cisterns that can hold no water.
Jeremiah 2:11-13
What? Really? If you had a spring of water, would you say “no thanks” and dig a well instead? What if that spring brought forth water that could give you eternal life? And what if you had absolutely no experience digging wells, so your well will be busted up and leak water out so there is never any water in it? Besides that, you keep coming back to that dry well hoping to satisfy your thirst, but never find it. Yet you continue to ignore the spring that will give you that satisfaction and much more.
In the light of these analogies, choosing to sin – especially to continue coming back to the same sins time and time again seeking happiness – seems very very stupid, doesn’t it?
But those sins aren’t just stupid, they’re a terribly offensive abomination to God (look in Leviticus and Deuteronomy if you want to see the word “abomination” describing sin over and over again). The book of Hosea and numerous other passage throughout the Bible imply or outright state that we are the bride/wife of Christ. Christ, of course, is an amazing husband who loves us far more than we deserve and takes very good care of us. So what do we do? We cheat on him. And not just once, but numerous times each day. Often, we don’t even feel remorse and come up with excuses to justify why it is OK. We’re lucky if we spend 30 minutes each day with the one guy who truly cares about us unconditionally, but we’ll throw hours away with all of our idols as they give empty promises, enticing us away from the one who actually can fulfill those promises.
Don’t despair though! There is good news! Jesus, despite being spurned countless times, is relentlessly pursuing you still and is patiently hoping you’ll give those other things up and fix your gaze upon him so he can show you what true love and joy are. He gave up his own life in order to win your heart back. Take him up on that offer and you’ll never regret it.