Have It Yahweh

"Thus says the LORD: "I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved Me and followed Me through the wilderness..." (Jeremiah 2:1-2)

The Prophet Jeremiah, was a heartbroken prophet, with a heartbreaking message.

Israel was called the "wife of Jehovah", and had once loved the Lord in her youth. But she had played the harlot and had forsaken her Husband and had gone after other gods; making lifeless idols for herself. She had become an idolater. She had forsaken her Lord.

God said of His adulterous wife: 

“For My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water." (Jeremiah 2:13)

The honeymoon stage of a marriage is pretty rapturous and amazing. You spend every waking moment trying to please your spouse. You want to be with them every second of the day.

But as the years go by, many people begin to take their mate for granted. The once blissful honeymoon period is over, and you start to focus more on your own selfish needs and interests, and forsake those of your husband or wife. Some even betray their spouse by looking to other lovers to fulfill their selfish wants. This is exactly what Israel did to God, her Husband.

Through the prophet Jeremiah, God kept calling His bride to turn back. But she would not. 

But, The Lord, rich in mercy, kept calling His adulterous wife to return to Him:

“Return, O backsliding children,” says the Lord; “for I am married to you. I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion. And I will give you shepherds according to My heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding." (Jeremiah 3:14)

At the last chapter of the book of Jeremiah, is a tragic ending, for a stiff-necked people, who would not repent and turn back to the Lord. Israel was taken captive to Babylon, spiritually which, symbolizes the fallen world system in the New Testament. (See Revelation chapters 14 and 18).

God's people had fallen away from Him, and had been taken captive, giving themselves over to idolatry, loving the things of this world system, more than loving God.

And isn't that exactly what's happening today? 

Folks today go to church with a consumer mindset-Burger King mentality: "Have it your way."

They get upset if the worship songs played don't appeal to them. They don't like the way the pastor preached a message. They write an anonymous complaint on a suggestion slip because they don't like the way the worship leader sings. The sermon was too long. Etc.

And people don't want to live according to God's Word. As the Apostle Paul warned, they won't endure sound doctrine:

"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables." (2 Timothy 4:3-4)

Society today is predominantly self-focused and self-absorbed. And so much of that mindset has crept into the church. People want to be catered to, pampered, and have everything their way. 

In Jeremiah's day, God's people turned their hearts away from Him, and from His commandment to live according to His Word. Instead, they substituted man-made things to take the place of God in their lives. They refused to do things God's way, and wanted to have everything their way. They were self-absorbed and self-focused.

Sound familiar?

God's kingdom is not like Burger King. 

It's not about you. It's about Him. You can't have it your way.

Have it His way.

—Have it Yahweh.

Jesus—the Fountain of Living Waters—said:

"And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment." (Mark 12:30)

God is Love and Love Never Fails.