“...Behold I am about to bring a calamity upon this place, at which the ears of everyone that hears of it will tingle. Because they have forsaken Me and have made this an alien place and have burned sacrifices in it to other gods, that neither they nor their forefathers nor the kings of Judah had ever known, and because they have filled this place with the blood of the innocent and have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, a thing which I never commanded or spoke of, nor did it ever enter My mind” (Jeremiah 19:3-5).
The Bible speaks of Jerusalem as the “holy city.” It is so designated because it had been set apart by God for special purposes. It was home to the Temple, the location God had chosen for His name and presence to dwell. It was recognized as the center of worship and government for the people of God. But by the time Jeremiah spoke the words of God recorded above, Jerusalem had become spiritually unrecognizable. As the prophet and some of the leaders of Judah stood in the southern part of the city overlooking the Hinnom valley, an strange landscape filled their eyes. Perhaps the acrid smoke of idolatrous sacrifices rose to fill their nostrils. Perhaps chants of devotion to false gods rose to fill their ears. The holy city had become “an alien place”, something far removed from the original plans and purposes of God.
What happened to Jerusalem can also happen to human hearts. A heart devoted to the service of God is a “holy place.” It is a dwelling place of the Father. But when wickedness is allowed to enter and grow, the landscape begins to change. Bit by bit, God is forced out. And before long, a heart once devoted to God becomes “an alien place.”
Lord, please help me never to let my own heart become a place that You would not recognize.
God loves you!
Mike
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