led astray

My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have led them astray, turning them away on the mountains. From mountain to hill they have gone. They have forgotten their fold. All who found them have devoured them, and their enemies have said, ‘We are not guilty, for they have sinned against the Lord, their habitation of righteousness, the Lord, the hope of their fathers.’

Jeremiah 50:6-7

When Israel and Judah rejected God by disobedience to their covenant with Him, they did so under the leadership of sinfully neglectful shepherd leaders. And like ignorant wandering sheep, abandoned alone in the wilderness hills, their predatory enemies easily captured them. And even their enemies knew why this happened: “They have sinned against the Lord.”

It is a sad day when the enemies of God’s people know more about how they should act than God’s people themselves do. But that is exactly what Jeremiah describes here. The captors of the Jews knew that God would have kept His people safe had they not wandered off and instead been faithful to His covenant. God was their righteous habitation. He was their hope.

Lord,

My heart can go astray, which is the danger inherent in my selfish nature. And my heart can be led astray which is the danger of following anyone else by You. Keep me close to You, eyes on You, in Your Word, so I know only Your voice in all my key choices. You are my only Shepherd and Leader. 

Amen