Day 142: If you will return – Jeremiah 4 vs 1 – 4

1-2 “If you return, O Israel”, declares the Lord, “to me you should return. If you remove your detestable things from my presence and do not waver;  and if you swear ‘As the Lord lives' in truth, in justice, and in righteousness - then nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory.” 3-4 For thus says the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem: “Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns. Circumcise yourselves to the Lord; remove the foreskin of your hearts, O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; lest my wrath go forth like fire, and burn with none to quench it, because of the evil of your deeds.” English Standard Version. (Link to New Living Translation's paraphrase)

Speaking through His messenger Jeremiah, God mentions three 'ifs' in vs 1-2 of what the people needed to do so that He would stop the judgement He was bringing upon them. What were those three things?

They needed to return to God Himself (not just drift back to the temple and religious ceremonies). They also needed to put away any idols they'd gathered, and any things they knew from God's word He did not want in their lives. (That could've included things such as stolen items, or things they'd taken as security from poor people who were unable to pay them back). And they were not to use God's name in a false way to cover up dishonest dealings. Those three 'ifs' were really taking them back to the Ten Commandments which they had forgotten. And if they did those things sincerely, then they would become a light to the nations and the nations would find blessing through them.

So we see that God wanted them to be genuine and not just a people of empty words and broken promises. Verses 3-4 describe what was needed on their part if they were going to return to God in the right way. What was involved there?

God describes them as being like hard thorny ground that needed to be broken up before anything could grow, and as having hard hearts that needed an operation! Jesus used a similar picture in his story of a man who sowed seeds which didn’t all result in a good harvest. Some seed fell on hard and thorny ground and was wasted. And Jesus said that was sadly true of many people in those days who heard him preach. He said “This people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.”

So both Jeremiah and Jesus were calling people to recognise the condition they were in and to do something about it. It's what the Bible calls 'repentance'. If men and women want God to be the one they love and serve, and the one who changes their lives for the better, they need to come to Him with not just words and promises to do better, but confessing how hard their hearts really are, and crying out to Him to take away the stony heart and give them a heart that understands the gospel.

Becoming a Christian is not just an emotional decision to 'follow Jesus'. It involves admitting to God all that is wrong and evil in our life and turning away from what we know He doesn’t want to see in us. And if we call on the name of Jesus Christ for salvation, it mustn't be in a shallow and false way. We must kneel with our heart before God and ask His forgiveness, and ask also that He will help us make whatever changes we need to make in how we behave. The wonderful news is that the Bible says: ”If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord - and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” (Romans 10:9-10)

There's that word 'if' again! What did Jeremiah say would be the sad result 'if' the people did not repent and return to God? (vs 3-4) Turning to God in true repentance is an 'if' with eternal consequences.