Jeremiah 7:23-26

²³ But this command I gave them: ‘

Obey my voice, and 

I will be your God, and

you shall be my people. 

And walk in all the way that I command you, 

that it may be well with you.’ 

²⁴ But they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and the stubbornness of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward. ²⁵ From the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt to this day, I have persistently sent all my servants the prophets to them, day after day. ²⁶ Yet they did not listen to me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck. They did worse than their fathers.

This piece of scripture summarises it so well. God says this is the instruction he gave to Israel, but they did not listen. This scripture tells us that we should take heed and be mindful not to fall in the same way. This is a warning for us. It is so easy to be led away by everything around us. It’s as if everything is more compelling than God and his ways.

But we need to keep scripture like this in our hearts so that we are reminded of how many times God gave Israel chances, warnings, and forgiveness, and yet they still continued to fail.

God says that he told them to obey Him, to be His and to walk in His way. But they did not obey Him; they chose instead to walk according to their own way. Walking in our own way is exactly the mistake man has been making from the very beginning. This is the same mistake we all make, where we want to do things our way, but often that is not what God is calling us to do. So, let this set into your mind that God gave them so many warnings, but still, they chose to go against that…will we do the same?