Two Sins

Jeremiah 2:13 states:

My people have committed two sins:
They have forsaken me,
   the spring of living water,
and have dug their own cisterns,
   broken cisterns that cannot hold water. 

All throughout the prophetic section of the Bible, God is exhorting the people of Israel to repent, and we've seen (and will see) a long litany of sins to repent of, but in this verse, God very clearly states what Judah has done to deserve punishment:

1. Forsaken God

2. Tried to do things their own way

Old Testament Israelites had an extensive list of Levitic law, holiday observance and sacrifice requirements, and something we're going to read in a couple of days implies that they've forgotten or stopped practicing most of it. God, through Jeremiah, boiled down the reason for these rituals and laws, as well as our modern practice of worship, into these simple steps.

In other words, when we discuss Christianity with anyone, believer or non-believer alike, we can tell them the point (or what should be the point) of our worship:

1. Acknowledge God as the omniscient, omnipotent creator

2. Acknowledge him as the source of everything we have

It's just like calling up mom on Mother's Day--acknowledgement and thanks--no more than that. Anything in our worship (and use an expanded definition of worship to incorporate our prayer life, Bible study and whatever else we do to learn about God and don't limit it to Sunday services) that does these two simple steps is God-pleasing, and anything that doesn't isn't necessarily bad or wrong, but it could be superfluous. God has said over and over in the Old Testament that mindless sacrifices mean nothing, and Jesus will teach that public prayer is more boasting than worship if we turn the focus on ourselves instead of on God.

Reading the Bible can be tricky--parts we're familiar with we can just gloss over, telling ourselves "Oh yeah, I remember this part," or skipping those parts we don't like or care for. It's also just as possible to miss little nuggets like this as we read along, getting lost in the narrative, which is one reason I proposed slowing down when we reach the New Testament. Familiarity breeds contempt, but it also breeds a notion that we already know it, and I'll admit we do know it, but we don't study the Bible to know it, we study it to use it and spread that knowledge out in the world. This little verse in Jeremiah can be that simple ice-breaker that can help someone understand Christianity--it's short, easily understood and makes a simple but important point.

Scott