Jeremiah 3 Devotional

Calling Back the Unfaithful

““Return, O faithless children, and I will heal your faithlessness.” “Here we are. We come to You, for You are the LORD our God.”Jeremiah 3:22 (BSB)

Jeremiah 3 opens with a legal question. If a divorced wife marries another man, can her first husband ever take her back (3:1)? The expected answer is no, and Israel has gone after many lovers. Judah is worse still, because her turning back was only pretense (3:10). By every rule, the story should end there.

Instead, God keeps calling. He urges faithless Israel to return, because he is merciful and will not stay angry forever (3:12). He asks for one thing: that they admit their guilt (3:13). Then he offers to heal their faithlessness himself (3:22). The chapter closes with the people finally answering, confessing their sin from youth until now (3:25). Real return is not a performance but honest agreement with God about what we have done. John says that when we confess our sins, God can be counted on to forgive and to cleanse (1 John 1:9). Whatever you have been hiding, the way home begins with telling him the truth about it.

To think about: What would honest agreement with God about your sin sound like today, instead of a show of turning back?