Straying from the pathway:

So says Jehovah, Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths where the good way is, and walk in it, and you shall find rest for your souls. But they said, “We will not walk in it.” Jeremiah 6:16

Have you ever been lost, I mean really frighteningly lost, convinced that you would never again be seen or found? I once explored a long abandoned gold mine, and wandered down a number of old shafts, only to eventually arrive at a dead end. When I tried to make my way back to the surface I became disoriented and passed the same blind shaft at least three times. Panic settled upon me like a cloak, and I quickly “fell to pieces” convinced that I would die deep underground and no one would ever find my body!

It took considerable will-power to control my panic and think about my situation logically. Eventually I did find my way out of my “almost tomb” via a different shaft to the one I entered. I can still recall the feelings of dread and fright that my experience occasioned. Now when I venture into old mines or caves I carry a piece of limestone, marking my return direction with arrows.  

Long ago (about 650 B.C) ancient Israel forgot about God and wandered far from His well defined pathways and fell into apostasy and evil practices.  

Because My people have forgotten Me, they have burned incense to vanity, and they have caused themselves to stumble in their ways from the old paths, to walk in by-paths, not in the highway. Jeremiah 18:15

There is an old hymn called “The Old Time Religion.”, which contains the lines “Give me that old time religion…It was good for the Hebrew children, and it’s good enough for me”.

Simple worship in a simple building

While many believers hold to the message of that hymn, there is a shift today that finds us heading in a different direction. Much of Christianity now proclaims tolerance and acceptance (of sinful lifestyles) and houses of worship are becoming geared more and more for entertainment. To a large extent the church seeks to deal with individuals more on a social level than a spiritual one. Religion today, as vast as it is in style, offers little substance to change the hearts of a sin-sick generation.

There was a time in Israel’s history which was very similar to our day. The people of Israel had become lethargic and complacent in their devotion to God. They sought prophets who would tickle their ears and tell them that all was well.

They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace. Jeremiah 6:14 

They were seeking those who would tell them what they wanted to hear, sadly this is commonplace today. The Apostle Paul warns us of this in 2 Timothy 4:3 when he states, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears.” Israel had already done this, and we are repeating their error.  

God had appointed prophets and watchmen in Israel who would blow the shofar or trumpet, in other words would “tell it like it is,” but they would not hearken. (Hear and obey)

Also I set watchmen over you, saying, and “Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, “We will not hearken.” Jeremiah 6:17 

We are traveling down a road of conformity to and with worldly standards and morality; the more “seeker friendly” we have tried to become, the less leading of the Spirit we have experienced. As we have sought the lost, we have lost the found.

Christians are leaving established denominations and fellowships in droves; and they are staying away from church. Accord with the world has watered down the Gospel, leaving it nothing more than a pale imitation of the life-changing message of Jesus Christ’s atonement.

We have been fooled into believing that God’s Word isn’t pure and infallible! We seem unsure as to what correct, solid Biblical doctrine is anymore… Jesus told us that we can know the truth and the truth will set us free.     

Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. Proverbs 30:5 MKJV  

Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit orphans and widows in their afflictions, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. James 1:27 MKJV

 

Updated and republished from July 2012.