Call of the Wild



Jer 5:22  Why don't you honor me? Why aren't you in awe before me? Yes, me, who made the 

	shorelines to contain the ocean waters. I drew a line in the sand that cannot be crossed. 

	Waves roll in but cannot get through; breakers crash but that's the end of them. 

Jer 5:23  But this people--what a people! Uncontrollable, untamable runaways. 

Jer 5:24  It never occurs to them to say, 'How can we honor our GOD with our lives, The God 

	who gives rain in both spring and autumn and maintains the rhythm of the seasons, 

	Who sets aside time each year for harvest and keeps everything running smoothly for 

	us?' 

Jer 5:25  Of course you don't! Your bad behavior blinds you to all this. Your sins keep my 

	blessings at a distance. 


	Reading from Jer. 5 this morning I was impressed by the extent to which he 

described the sins and the transgressions of the people as a reason and as a defense for the 

impending judgement and destruction. While there is a period of grace in which we live, 

there still is an intense jealousy that God possesses, and the thing about sin that He hates so 

much is how it captures and diverts the heart of the transgressor from any desire for Him. 

While God may deal graciously and give much leeway in allowing people time to come to 

their senses, the sins and the darkness of the heart will themselves bring about judgement's 

punishment. 

	Today there are so many things that stand ready to divert hearts away from the truth 

in Him. There are so many pleasures to become engrossed in that will eat away at the purity 

there once was in our relationship with Christ. If there isn't daily passionate pursuit of the 

glory of God and a nurtured intense desire for His presence there will inevitably be a 

replacing passion from the world that will totally displace any passion for Him. In reality, it 

is not so much the pleasure of sin that is so destructive, but it is the diversion it brings from 

complete devotion and commitment to God. The irony of it all is that the greatest pleasures 

come in His presence in an atmosphere of holiness and purity. For some reason there is this 

enticement of the flesh to be gratified in transgression and to taste of the sweetness of 

deviance, and, once it has found a foothold in occupying our life with its passion, it becomes 

a stronghold that is very difficult to overcome. 

	Praise God, there is a way made for us to remedy this "giving in to the call of the 

wild". Living close to His side, abiding in His Word, keeping a praise on our lips and 

remaining in His house of pleasures will render powerless any well-crafted weapon of sin. 

Honoring Him and becoming completely gratified with the One who created all things for 

our pleasure is an occupation that will never go without the great reward of His presence 

and the great escape from the imminent wages of sin. 



3/17/04