Thus says the Lord:
"What wrong did your fathers find in me
that they went far from me,
and went after worthlessness, and became worthless?   --Jeremiah 2:5, ESV

I read this passage this morning and it caught my attention.  It was such a probing question.  What wrong could we find in God? 

I have to admit, I can't find an answer that makes sense.  I have a number of friends who do not share my faith in Jesus or my religious convictions, and I respect their right to a differing viewpoint on matters related to God.  While I would certainly want them to experience the peace and joy that faith has brought to my own life, I am not ultimately responsible for whether or not they choose to follow Jesus; I'm only responsible for sharing God's love and telling his story when they afford me the privilege to do so.  Besides, I don't think that many of them find fault with God as much as they do with those of us who follow him imperfectly...

Regardless, I don't think that's the real gist of this verse anyway. 

These words were given to Jeremiah to speak to to the people of Judah, who had allowed worship of other gods to co-mingle with their Temple worship of Jehovah God due to the threat of political reprisal for their continued exclusivity of faith.  Needless to say, his message was not well received, and both he and his message faced rejection for the duration of his ministry because of its harsh theme.  While that concept could become a blog series in and of itself, that's still not what struck me about this passage. 

I am spending the season of Lent in pursuit of knowing God better... of becoming more an example of his love and goodness in the way I live my own life.  God has been very overt in blessing my journey with a genuine sense of purpose as well as with opportunities to offer tangible expressions of his love toward other people.  I am learning that the more I give, the more pleasure I find in giving, even when my own resources are diminished by doing so.  The more I care, the greater my level of compassion and empathy.  And with each new experience of my deepening faith, I gain a richer understanding of how very good God is. 

The Judeans of Jeremiah's day, of all people, should have had a strong understanding of this.  But God said they had become "worthless."  Perhaps the  disintegration of their trust in God came over time... perhaps it was immediate.  I'm not enough of a biblical scholar to know how it all came to pass.  But, either way, this verse came alive to me today when I understood that it says losing sight of God's goodness and infinite worth will cause us to chase after things that are worthless... until we become worthless ourselves.

May we learn the lesson well.

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!
Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!  --Psalm 34:8, ESV

jph