Jeremiah 5

Why must men be so foolish to refuse correction? Why must we harden our hearts and refuse to return to God knowing that calamity awaits us? Even after the Lord consumed them, the chosen people refused to change (vs. 3). But it is because they do not know the way of the Lord that they fall into unrepentance (vs. 4). If the punishment for the people who know not the judgment of God is so great, how much worse would it be for the people who know the way of the Lord and His judgment yet refused it? After all, those who are oblivous of their actions are punished less severely than those who know evil but carried on with it. I do not want to imagine the consequences of our punishment if we failed to follow the ways of God which once was stamped in our minds. Let's not become the object of God's punishment.

Let us not push the Lord away any longer and come to receive the good things which is stored up for us (vs. 25). If it is our sins that prevent us from receiving the good things, then let us confess those sins before God and be rid of them. Do not wait until the Lord says, "Shall I not punish them for these things?...Shall I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?" (vs. 29). Let's not arouse the wrath of God and bring destruction upon ourselves. Be wise and return to His ways!