Crayons For Jesus


Friday, January 16, 2009 Print E-mail

There is hope for your future, declares the Lord, and your children shall come back to their own country. Jeremiah 31:17

Throughout the book of Jeremiah, the prophet details the cycle of sin the Israelites get caught in. Despite God’s continued deliverance, the Israelites have continued to disobey. Their disobedience and unfaithfulness leads to their own hurt, yet they continue this cycle. It is foolishness to continue to turn away from the One who has always proven faithful. We are just like the Israelites in this respect.

In chapters 30-31 of Jeremiah, the Lord issues his judgment against Israel, Ephraim, and Judah. Their people are scattered and all that the good they thought they could find by going their own way brings disappointment and brokenness. The promise of sin cannot deliver. We all have gone our own way; we all have proven faithless and disobedient. And we all have felt the sorrow of our own sin, sorrow that God never meant for us to feel.

Despite all of the Lord’s judgment being true, he again comes through to deliver. Here we see the Lord offering hope to the Israelites despite their disobedience. This is key in understanding the difference between the conviction of God’s Holy Spirit and the condemnation given by the enemy.

God’s conviction leads us to repentance and correction. It encourages us to hope and delivers on that promise. It is for our own good and it is done out of love. The Lord’s judgment in these chapters is not so that he has a case to abandon the Israelites, it is so that he can offer the hope of the new covenant – the covenant we have through the grace of Jesus.  God wants to deal with our sin because it is what is blocking us from truly knowing and following Him.

The enemy’s condemnation is not done out of love. Its goal is to make us so frustrated at ourselves that we simply give up. It is to feed the lie to us that we cannot change, that we are a worthless cause. We cannot change on our own, but this verse reminds us of grace and so we can hope. The truth of redemption frees us from the bondage of the enemy’s lie. Our hope of salvation and of restoration comes directly from the mouth of God here. So great is His love for us that even in these convicting chapters, He promises the redemption and restoration of His people. If you have been grafted in by the grace of Christ into God’s family, then are you His people and He is your God. 

These chapters of judgment are necessary so that God can get to what He really wants to tell His people - the good He has in store for them. And why would He do this for such a rebellious and foolish generation? Reason and logic cannot explain it, but God’s passionate and pure love do. Do not believe the lies of the enemy, discount all condemnation, but heed all conviction. Do not lose heart when the Holy Spirit convicts you, invite Him to clean up the mess, to dress the wounds brought on by your sin, and to spur you onward toward what God is calling you to.

Dear Lord,
Your patience with each generation is incredible. You are forever faithful. Each generation can offer you nothing but failure and nothing but disobedience but it is your grace that changes us. We have hope despite our sin because we know the truth that you are continually at work in our hearts. You mold us into the image of Christ daily. You set us free from the lie of condemnation and your conviction is necessary. We may not like it, but we understand it is for our own good. It is because of the hope of the good you have for us that we continue to walk forward. You give us the ability to move on from our sin. Your love is proven perfect when you take all of the bad fruit we produce and change our roots to produce that which is good in your sight. You have good for us though we do not deserve it and we thank you for that. We invite your Holy Spirit to lead us into restoration. Forgive us for our rebellion, and bless us because you are our God and you are good. Amen.