It is important to recognise when we stray from God that this is not just an unfortunate situation that prevents us from getting the best we could have. It is actually deeply offensive to God when we stray. The only reason we ever feel that we can do without God is because we have found some kind of replacement for the love that God gives us. Our straying is therefore the same kind of offense as adultery. The metaphor of adultery in Jeremiah’s oracles is not a poetic overstatement. It is a direct expression of God’s grief. It sounds strange to say that God can suffer grief, but that is what the Bible shows us, not least of all here in Jeremiah’s oracles. God is deeply saddened when we reject him and replace him with other things. If we are to return to God we must recognise this lest we find ourselves wandering back complacently to ‘give God another shot’. We should rush back to God and seek his forgiveness for having spurned such great love. It is God’s love for us that causes his grief at our waywardness, but it is also his love that made a way in Jesus Christ for us to be reconciled with him. To be reconciled to one whom we have grieved, we must recognise the pain that was caused. This recognition, and the willingness to reciprocate the grief, is the key to re-building our relationship with God after some lapse. When you stray from God you should feel both the reproach of God as well as the longing of God to restore you. It is a moving combination.
Thank God for his great love for you.
Read Jeremiah 3:1-4:4
