from Christian Union America's National Fast, August 2024
by christine foster, director of mentoring
"Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place. Do not trust in these deceptive words: ‘This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.’" -Jeremiah 7:3-4
I grew up in a family with roots in the military. My father worked as an engineer on satellite systems for the Air Force during the Vietnam War, and his father spent his whole career in the service, flying B-52 bombers over the Aleutian Islands during World War II and then commanding a wing of C-130 cargo planes during Vietnam. When troops do their own thing, people die. We are, as a result, fundamentally rule-following people.
But I have also raised my children in the 21st-century—a time when so much of the culture says that anything goes. The idea of authority and limits and rules seems foreign in so many places now. It is fundamentally countercultural to put aside what we want to do and do what God asks of us. So much of our world actively works against this notion, spewing “deceptive words” about who is King and how we can stay connected to Him.
God promises the most amazing of blessings. In Genesis 12:1-3, He says to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
What an amazing gift that is, to not only be blessed, but to be able to be a vessel to bless so many others—“all the families of the earth.” But Scripture is crystal clear that God also expects obedience. This relationship is not a one way street. Like troops recognizing that safety comes from following our leader, we must turn fully to God and obey Him. In our passage from Jeremiah, we are told to “amend our ways and deeds”—to shift the pattern of our lives to honor God—to not just say the right things, but to do them. It is that obedience that opens the doorway to all God wants for us.
Gracious God, we give You thanks for the opportunity to simply obey You—to have our ways and deeds reflect Your calling and Your glory. We know that this is how you pave the way for us to experience Your abundant blessings and to be in a position to bless others. In a world that says what matters most is what we want, may we find strength in knowing that what You want for us is so much better. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
