The People Of God

I have been working through the book of Jeremiah recently. It is very interesting because it is all about God dealing with nations – mainly the Israelite nation in this instance, but we can see parallels with nations in the world today.

God says that when the nation turns from him even the ground under our feet suffers. Perhaps pollution is not the only player in global warming and other natural disasters.

Perhaps the Western nations that rose to greatness because of their Christian foundations are suffering economically today because they have turned their backs on God.

One of the great hopes found in the bible is that God does not just look at nations as a whole. He is also prepared to weigh the individuals within a nation as well. Like the famous instance where Abraham is asking God to spare Sodom and Gomorrah, and God agreed to spare the cities if 10 good men could be found.

If you are looking for a central theme of the Old Testament it can be found in this verse … JER 31:33

The Lord says:

“This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel
after that time,” declares the LORD.
“I will put my law in their minds
and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.[NIV]

As ludicrous as it sounds if you want to be in “the people of God” all you have to do is let him be your God. At first glance it appears to be so easy that it is a no brainer.

The crushing reality is that letting God be your God is a much harder task than we could have dreamed possible. This is the reason that the Israelites suffered so much.

Letting God be your God is a complete lifestyle and even more than that it is a way of life. It means letting him be in charge of all you actions and desires.

For example: driving along the highway in a truck is often a good time for reflection. But more often you are tired and other road users behave in a manner that is highly aggravating.

Times like these are when you need to have the law written on you minds and hearts. So that your first reaction, the subconscious one, is glorifying to God. Only then will be he be your God and you will be his people.

Imagine how the world would look (or even the Church) if we embraced this theology.

In the book Secrets of the Millionaire Mindthe author, T. Harv Eker, says 'Rich people constantly learn and grow. Poor people think they already know.'

The same is true in the world of Christianity. People who think they know all about God and fail to immerse themselves in God's word regularly will remain spiritually poor.

I often here people talk about what “my God” would or would not do (especially on talk back radio)… more often than not these people have created their own God .. and he has little in common with the creator of the universe.

Wisdom

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” according to the Psalmist (PS 111:10). But that is only the beginning – what takes you deeper into enlightenment?

JER 33:1 While Jeremiah was still confined in the courtyard of the guard, the word of the LORD came to him a second time: ² “This is what the LORD says, he who made the earth, the LORD who formed it and established it–the LORD is his name: ³ `Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’ [NIV]

Call to me. . . God says we have to call upon him. It sounds so elementary and basic, but I bet it is a fault that many of us have – that we simply do not call upon God enough.

Even if we read our bible “religiously.” And even if we never miss a church service. The act of taking the time to call upon God is still something that we do not do enough.

Calling upon God is a discipline – something that has to be learned. . . practiced. . . and done regularly.

In our modern busy world we like to have noise. If we aren’t talking to people or mobile phones; we are listening to the radio, or have the T.V. on. Many times were are doing all of the above at once.

There is always something ringing in our ears, and if for any reason there isn’t we feel uncomfortable.

We cannot call upon God in the midst of such noise. And we definitely cannot listen to him in this environment.

Yes. . . we can worship along with the radio or Ipod (if we are listening to worshipful music). Yes we can join with others in praising God. But to really hear what God is speaking to us we need to take the deliberate action of stopping and listening.

Why should we do this?

Because of the amazing promise that God makes to Jeremiah “I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.”

God wants to communicate with us! He wants to share the secrets of the universe with us. But we don’t take the time to establish a relationship with him where he can communicate with us.

“A man by his sin may waste himself, which is to waste that which on earth is most like God. This is man’s greatest tragedy and God’s greatest grief.” - A.W. Tozer

By not establishing a relationship with God we are not fulfilling our potential. We are wasting that which was created in the likeness of God.

Writing The Words Of God

I think this is an interesting directive that God gave Jeremiah – to write down his words:

JER 30:1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: (2) “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: `Write in a book all the words I have spoken to you.[NIV]

Not that it is strange that God would ask such a thing. That makes very good sense – after all that is what has preserved these words for our benefit.

No … the thing that strikes me about this passage is, firstly, that Jeremiah was told to write God’s words in a book. I am not sure about you, but I don’t think I would need a book to write all the words that God has spoken to me.

I am sure that it is entirely my fault that the communication channel between myself and God has more in common with two cups attached by a string than the fiber optic network of high speed Internet traffic.

But, the fact remains that Jeremiah wrote God’s words in a book, and it ended up being one of the largest books of the Bible. Not only is it long, it records a fascinating period in Israel’s history.

A period where God elects to discipline even his chosen people.

Secondly, the quality of the relationship that this man had with God was staggering. Although we can speculate about the amount of time Jeremiah had with God, that remains a mystery.

It is however, a challenge to me to try and become such that if God asked me to write down his words that I would hear him in the first instance, and have enough of a relationship with him that I would be able to fill a book.

RECAP

• Have the Law of God on your hearts and minds – That we may be his people.

• Call upon the Lord – He wants share the secrets of the universe with us.

• Listen to what God has to say – Take the time to hear him.