"Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem, Thus says the LORD, 'I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed me in the wilderness, in a land not sown.'"
Jeremiah 2:2
So background... In chapter 1, God calls Jeremiah to speak to Israel on His behalf in a time of extreme rebellion. They are "whoring" (God's words, not mine) after other gods and forsaking their devotion to the Lord, forgetting what He's done for them. So He wants Jeremiah to go in and let them know that God's about ready to throw down, if you will.
This verse shows God being sort of nostalgic about Israel's past devotion to Him. He blind-sided me with this because I think about my "youth" and how passionate I once was about Him. Okay, I realize I'm not THAT old, but back in the day (hehe) I couldn't get enough of the Lord. I wanted time with Him more than food, more than anything. So now that I'm old and have responsibilities and all that, it's a lot harder to keep my focus. That might sound really unspiritual, but it's easier to be honest when I can't see my audience. Ha! So the past couple weeks, I've been going through this little mini revival all my own. It's so refreshing to just sit down with the Lord and ask Him what He has for me today. And get this, He answers! Go figure!
Paul is always talking in his letters about moving from spiritual milk to meat. Putting on our big boy britches, if you will, and getting on with it. But I feel like sometimes we equate spiritual maturity with being boring. Or at least I do sometimes. Maybe I'm alone on this, but I think it's a delicate balance. We need to be grown up in a sense. Not dramatic or emotional and all that. But didn't Christ also welcome, and in fact command, child-like faith? It's both. Like in this book I'm reading, is God a lion or a lamb? Both. Weird. Two polar opposites in the animal kingdom and He picks both to represent Him. Strange. But it makes sense that this multi-faceted God would command attitudes and hearts from us that may at times seem contradictory, especially in the world's eyes, but it's for our best to listen, ya know?
