I have been reading through Jeremiah lately and I stumbled upon a certain verse that stuck out to me. Jeremiah was called by God to proclaim His message among the people of Israel and those of other nations. The message is simple: “You all have rejected Me, hated Me, left off seeking Me, therefore you ought to turn back now or I am sending an army from the north (Babylon) to wipe you out.”
It is quite a hard message. Spending time reading it prayerfully is extremely convicting as well. It shows us the human condition and reveals how truly wicked our hearts are without the work of God on them. The Israelites were chosen and called out by God, He made them a nation by His power, He rescued them out from Egypt and yet from the “day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt” they “did worse than their fathers”. Becoming stubborn, complaining, rejecting God, and getting so wicked to the point of creating countless idols (Jeremiah 11:13) and sacrificing their own children in the name of these false gods.
This leads me to the verse that struck me and goes perfectly with my theme of “Anguished Soul”. As God looks over how wicked His people have become He says:
“They have made it desolate, and being desolate it mourneth unto me; the whole land is made desolate, because no man layeth it to heart.”
Jeremiah 12:11
That bolded phrase can also be translated: “no one even cares”. What a miserable state of a country. And yet the reason this struck me was because of how similar our own country is looking in the year 2023. In the past 30 years alone we’ve seen more addictions, more suicides, more homosexuality, more gender indentity problems, more shootings, and more wickedness than ever before. It is an absolute mess of a country which some say is simply God withdrawing His grace as a sign of judgment against this nation. My question is: Who out there truly cares? Who is laying it to heart?
Take it to Heart
This was the reason I started my website. My soul was filled with anguish for a fallen church and a lost people. Yet sometimes I find myself not caring about the state of my own country let alone the people closest to me. I get so caught up in the waves of life. I have a job, a wife, friends, sports, YouTube, and so many other things to distract me from coming before God with an anguished heart and actually weeping before Him in prayer asking for change.
May it not be so. Let God look out on our country and see at least a select few who have laid it to their hearts. Take this personally. This is our church, our country, our Lord’s world. As Christians and, sadly, pastors around the globe don’t spend any time weeping for their congregations or country may we be the ones to do so. The land of Israel became desolate because nobody took it to heart. Dear reader, take this to heart. Don’t just talk about how bad things are. Don’t complain. Look to God. Cry out to Him. Wait on Him. I heard a quote recently: “In a time of first century evil we have the opportunity to live like first century Christians.” Let us do just that.
Pause
Please take a moment and ask our Father to create in you a heart that cares. A heart that shares in His own heart toward this nation and nations surrounding. Do not leave a post like this with only emotion. Nothing will happen if that is the case. You must as our Father. And our Father, “who is in heaven [will] give what is good to [You] who ask Him!”