We don’t need you

What injustice have your fathers found in Me, that they have gone far from Me, have followed idols, and have become idolaters? – Jeremiah 2:5

There’s a story about a group of scientists who decided that humans could do without God. So one of them looked up to God and said, "We’ve decided that we no longer need You. We have enough wisdom to clone people and do many miraculous things."

God listened patiently and then said, "Very well, let’s have a man-making contest. We’ll do it just like I did back in the old days with Adam." The scientists agreed, and one of them bent down and picked up a handful of dirt. God looked at him and said, "No! You have to make your own dirt!"

In Jeremiah’s day, the Israelites were living as if they no longer needed the Lord. They had entrusted themselves to other gods, even though their gods could not respond to their needs. Jeremiah confronted them about their rebellion, for they had forsaken the true God and shown disrespect for Him (Jeremiah 2:13, 19).

Are we guilty of living as if we don’t need God? We may know Him as our Savior but be worshipping the idol of our own wisdom or self-sufficiency. Could the Lord be saying of us, "They have gone far from Me"? (2:5).

Living far from God dishonors and displeases Him, and it will never meet our deepest needs. But we can return to Him today (3:7). – Anne Cetas

Unless we worship only God
Our lives cannot be truly free;
For we were made for Him alone –
All else is but idolatry. – D. De Haan

READ: Jeremiah 2:5-13

The idol of self is a sorry substitute for God.