Pray. Pray Now. Pray Honestly. Pray a Lot.
Jeremiah 4v1-2
15th January 2021
While praying about Coronavirus, I was led to re-read the book of the prophet Jeremiah. I came to this passage:
Jeremiah 4v1-2
"If you will return, O Israel, return to me," declares the Lord. "If you put your
detestable idols out of my sight and no longer go astray,
and if in a truthful, just and righteous way you swear, 'As surely as the Lord lives,'
then the nations will be blessed by him and in him they will glory."
In the first part of this passage, God addresses the descendants of the people of the northern tribes who had been taken into captivity by the Assyrians in 732 BC. In Chapter 3 Verses 12-14, God had called them to return to Israel, their land, a few at a time. Now God says something that applies just as much to us as it did to them. He says, "If you will return, O Israel, return to me".
Just as the people of the northern tribes of Israel must have longed to return to their native land, we long to return to a normal way of life. We long to see our families and friends, go out to a restaurant or the cinema, or watch a game of football. Most of all, we long to meet together with our church, to sing and pray together to the Lord Most High.
God is saying that if we want to return to our life before Coronavirus, we must first return to God. We must put God first during lockdown just as much as before lockdown. Perhaps lockdown is in part a call from God to His people to take Him more seriously, to pray, to repent, to seek His face.
God says "put your detestable idols out of my sight and no longer go astray". Anything, anything at all, that we treat as if it has more importance for us that God, is an idol. It's detestable, not because of what it is, but because we value it higher than God. That's true for a possession, an ambition, a career, a ministry, a habit, a pastime, a pension plan, or a person. If we want to return to all the fulness of life that God has for us, and for our churches, and for our country, then we must put all our idols aside and put God back in the centre of our lives.
God says we must be "truthful, just and righteous" in all things and particularly in our relationship with Him. Don't try to appear more holy than you are. Don't claim to be less sinful than you are. Especially, don't do this in prayer. God knows exactly what you're like. He calls us all to be honest people, just people, righteous people. That's the sort of people He wants to return, so we can live holy lives for Him when we return. The time to prepare is now.
And God promises that if we will use this time of lockdown (which is a sort of exile) to sort ourselves out before God then, when we return, "the nations will be blessed by him and in him they will glory." That is, many of our neighbours will be saved from darkness into God's wonderful kingdom because the people of God who come out of lockdown will be a holy people.
Our nation's future doesn't depend on the politicians or the scientists. It depends on God's people. We have the spiritual power. We have God's favour. We are His children. Our nation's future is our responsibility.
Will you respond to God's call? Will you repent and seek His face now, while we're still in lockdown? Then you will have a major part to play in helping others to find Jesus Christ when we return to "normal" life.