S147P7 – Lost to disobedience: God’s alliance
Jer. 21:4-6
Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, “Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands and with which you are fighting against the king of Babylon and against the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the walls. And I will bring them together into the midst of this city. I myself will fight against you with outstretched hand and strong arm, in anger and in fury and in great wrath. And I will strike down the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast. They shall die of a great pestilence.”
When we sign up for this godly life, we receive certain things. Some of what we receive does not seem so great if we cannot look deep enough to see the real gift. For example, the trials and tribulations just sound terrible. No one blows out the candles on their birthday cake and makes a wish for those. However, if we look at the fruit of trials and tribulations, then we see that they actually are a good gift. Other gifts like peace and hope we certainly accept with more excitement. Of all the things we receive from the Lord when we choose life with him, his alliance sits high on the list. If we are on his side, we always are on the winning side. After all, if God is for us, who can be against us? [Rom. 8:31]
There are two positions we can occupy in reference to God. We can be his friends or his enemies. There is no neutral ground. Each one of us has a relationship with the Lord that is either on good terms or bad terms. Judah’s disobedience took them from being in league with the Lord to being in league with his enemies, who also were their enemies. What they ended up becoming was no different than God’s enemies. In fact, such was his displeasure with them that He did more than just remove his alliance. He actually came against them himself, and He used those enemy peoples to accomplish this. When Judah chose against God, He in turn chose against them.
The alliance we have with God gives us protection, power, confidence and so much more. After coming to know the Lord as a friend and learning of his almighty power, it is a wonder that any of us would take the steps to become his enemy again. In the case of Judah, being God’s enemy was not just about losing his favor. They actually brought the wrath of God upon themselves as a result of their disobedience and loss of alliance. When we make the decision to disobey the Lord, we must ask ourselves whether that is the fate we would choose for ourselves. Father, thank You for being on our side, and help us to remain obedient and aligned with You.