Jeremiah 7:12 “‘Go now to the place in Shiloh where I first made a dwelling for my Name, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel.”
When reading verse 13, Isaiah 65:24 came to mind in sharp contrast: “Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear.” God wants relationship with His people. He wants us to talk with Him. He wants to bless us. But we must seek and establish relationship, we must trust and obey if we want to hear His voice, if we want to see His blessings.
Jeremiah 7:13 “While you were doing all these things, declares the Lord, I spoke to you again and again, but you did not listen; I called you, but you did not answer.”
As I was typing this, the parable of the Prodigal Son came to mind. The Prodigal, when he returned home, finally understood all the bounty and blessing he had been surrounded with the whole time. He had been blind to it before, but now that he actively sought relationship and forgiveness, he saw it clearly. The brother, vision clouded by anger and bitterness, was still blind to the abundance around him.
Jeremiah 7:14 “Therefore, what I did to Shiloh I will now do to the house that bears my Name, the temple you trust in, the place I gave to you and your ancestors.”
Lord, I am guilty of being blind to Your presence, Your blessings. I am guilty of being deaf to Your voice. I am better now about seeking and listening, seeing and hearing, but I am still not where I want to be. Help me to sit quietly at Your feet, to seek and listen, to draw closer to You with every breath. Amen.
Jeremiah 7:15 “I will thrust you from my presence, just as I did all your fellow Israelites, the people of Ephraim.’”
Have a blessed day.