Jeremiah 3

How do you picture God? Aloof? Distant? Unconcerned with your life? Too many much more pressing things to worry about than to care about what you’re doing? Au contraire. “‘If a man divorces a woman and she goes and marries someone else, he will not take her back again, for that would surely corrupt the land. But you have prostituted yourself with many lovers, so why are you trying to come back to me?’ says the Lord.” (vs 1)

God cares deeply about what we do. He cares about what we think. He cares about how we act. He cares about the things we’re in love with. He cares whether or not we have placed other idols at the center of our lives. In this chapter of Jeremiah, He uses the imagery of a jilted and jealous husband to describe how He feels about being left in the dust by His own children.

Why does He care so much? Is it because He can’t stand the affront to His honor? Is it because He doesn’t deserve to be treated so poorly? No, it’s because He knows that when we put anything but Him at the center of our lives, it hurts us. I truly don’t believe that God is at all concerned that we would hurt Him, but that by our choices, we hurt ourselves. And who wants to see their children in pain?

That’s why, later in the chapter, God reveals that He’s not like the jilted and jealous husband who won’t take his cheating wife back: “O Israel, my faithless people, come home to me again, for I am merciful. I will not be angry with you forever.” (vs 12)

The problem with sin is that it puts a wall between us and God. When we engage in sin—especially knowingly and willfully—the fear and guilt that comes with that makes us run away from God (just as Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden). But God doesn’t want there to be separation between us. That’s why He continually reassures us that He is merciful, forgiving, and patient.

So, no matter what you’ve done in your past, God will take you back. No matter how long you’ve been away, God will always welcome you home. And no matter how many times you’ve cheated on Him, God still loves you with a love that can never be quenched.

Silence the voices that tell you that you’ve failed Him too many times. Silence the voices that tell you that there’s no way He could ever love you again. He can, and He does. He will always take you back.