Jeremiah 1:16

I will utter My judgments Against them concerning all their wickedness, Because they have forsaken Me, Burned incense to other gods, And worshiped the works of their own hands.
Jeremiah 1:16

God informs Jeremiah of His coming judgments upon Judah and gives His reasons for these judgments. The judgments would be uttered against them because of their wickedness. Here the specific things mentioned are that the people forsook God, burned incense other gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands. My first thought when reading this is God makes the peoples faults all about them not worshipping Him and giving Him the respect He insists He deserves. Of course, if it isn't about God, then it would have to be about me. When I don't like the judgments God gives me, I say that I have as much right to do what I want to do as God has to tell me what to do. Selfishness wins out in my heart and I rebel against Him. I suppose I would have a valid argument if I were an equal to God. But God is my personal creator and the creator of all the universe. I am so unequal to God. An amoeba floating in pond scum is closer to deserving respect in comparison to me than I am in deserving respect in comparison to God. In other places in Jeremiah and in Kings and Chronicles we are told some of the other specific evils that the nation of Judah did. Such things as sacrificing their children to false gods, shedding of innocent blood until the streets ran red, the enslaving of their fellows in bitter bondage, the adulteries, and dishonesty, and profaning the Sabbath, and taking what they wanted when they wanted. Depravity existed in Judah and it really all stemmed from what God talks to Jeremiah about in this verse. When I turn from God and doing His will and do what I want, then all the other sins follow. Experience tells me that when I let God work in my heart for my salvation and good, I do things and act in ways that are beneficial to me and to those around me. When I allow myself to be self centered, doing what I want, thinking that I have rights as much as anyone else including God, then I do things that hurt myself and those around me. The more I allow me to think I am somebody that is in control, without a need for a God to lead and guide and inform me, the more selfish I become. The further I go away from the ideal of God, then the more willing I am to do things that cause destruction in my life and in the lives of those around me.
This was really the problem with Judah is the problem with most of us today. We forsake God. We have to have something to fill the void where God should be so we create false gods and worship them. False gods cannot help us maintain our moral balance and integrity, so we think, act, and say things that push us further from God. The void gets bigger, so we create more false gods. It only gets worse as the false gods can never fill the void. Jesus is ready to step in and fill the emptiness of our hearts. God has given us a choice, we can choose to hang onto and worship the false gods and to continue to create new false gods in a desperate need for love, or we can choose to let Jesus into our hearts and to fill the void with His love. The rulers and people of Judah made their choice. They would hang onto their idols to their destruction. I have to make a choice also, I must choose -
the love and wisdom and salvation of Jesus
or -
the TV, car, nice house on the lake, fat checking account, pile of gold in the safe deposit box, computer images, and the worship of a sulking rock star
The same things stands between God and myself as stood between the people of Judah and God, I. I will do what I want, when I want, the way I want. God tells me that He will utter His judgments against me. Justice demands it. His love for me may not waver, but justice goes with love. The happiness of innumerable created beings depends on the justice of God prevailing over the chaos of my selfcentereness. God has earned the right to respect and worship, I have earned the right to death. Jesus will impart the right to life upon me and stands now offering me the good way. He lived the life I could not live and offers me the life I do not deserve.

Lord,
Help me to accept your gifts of peace and life today. Help me to destroy the false gods I have created with my own hands. Help me to worship You with the respect and love You deserve. The void in my heart drives me to have something there, help me to let You in to fill that void. Take away the things, whatever they be, that are my false gods and replace them with You.