ODJ: u-turn
July 17, 2011
When [people] discover they’re on the wrong road, don’t they turn back? (v.4).
READ: Jeremiah 8:4-9
When my daughter was learning to drive, one of the maneuvers she had to master was the U-turn—a 180-degree rotation to reverse her direction. In some places, U-turns are permitted anywhere along a road as long as it’s safe to do so. In Singapore, U-turns are permitted only at specifically designated junctions, clearly marked by a sign. Regardless of your country’s rules of the road, it’s important for every driver to be able to execute a U-turn.
The people of God during Jeremiah’s time were going the wrong way. They had rejected God. He said, “But My people have stubborn and rebellious hearts. They have turned away and abandoned Me. They do not say from the heart, ‘Let us live in awe of the Lord our God’” (Jeremiah 5:23-24).
God patiently and lovingly pleaded with His people to repent, to do a U-turn before it was too late: “When people fall down, don’t they get up again? When they discover they’re on the wrong road, don’t they turn back?” (8:4).
Sadly, the people rejected God’s pleas. Instead, they compounded their sin with another greater sin: “They paid no attention. . . . They refused to be corrected. They are determined, . . . they have refused to repent” (5:3). No one said “I’m sorry” for doing wrong. No one confessed, “What a terrible thing I have done” (8:6). Refusing to turn around, they blatantly ignored the U-turn signs, stayed on their self-destructive path of sin (vv.5-6), and cruised into their designated and deserved outcome (5:15-18). The Babylonians came, devastated their city, destroyed their temple, and deported the people to a faraway land (52:12-27).
Are you cruising down life’s highway in the wrong direction, racing down the path of sin on the way to destruction? It’s time to make a U-turn. —K.T. Sim
What will it take to make a U-turn in your life? How might you crash and burn if you don’t change direction?
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