Circumcision of the Heart

Today’s devotion comes from the book of Jeremiah. For some odd reason, I have been reading the book of Jeremiah and watching the movie more often than I would like to admit. It isn’t a fun book. In this book God clearly expresses his disappointment in the children of Israel. They were full of deceit and hypocrisy. They were an adulterous, idol worshiping and boastful people. They had forgotten that God had brought them out of Egypt and had given them the very promised land that they were now desecrating.

The verses that really stuck with me was Jeremiah 9:25-26

The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh— Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab and all who live in the desert in distant places. For all these nations are really uncircumcised, and even the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.

The Israelites had become very complacent and satisfied with their outward-based religion. As long as they were circumcised and bought sacrifices to the altar as God had commanded of them, they were on good terms. At-least that is what they thought! God was tired of their apparent piety and wanted them to understand that he wanted a heartfelt relationship with them. When I read these verses, I realized that this is relevant today. Though we stress having a relationship with the Father and preach that he wants to be our friend, we often tend to forget this part and rely on our weekly church attendance and multitudes of “church-work” to substitute for an actual relationship with God.

On Saturday at the Kingsboro Temple of SDAs, Pastor Myron Edmonds, Senior Pastor of Glenville SDA in Ohio, made the following statement:

If I stand in a garage, does that make me a car? NO!!! Likewise, coming to church doesn’t make you a Christian.

What a simple, but powerful way to get the message across! As God was greatly grieved with the superficial relationship his children had with him, he is also displeased with our “religious shows”. Let’s commit to having a REAL relationship with our heavenly Father. He is more than just the man up there, he is our friend.

Have you developed a relationship with Him? It’s not to late to start!

Memory Text:

I have set the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. -Psalm 16:8

Prayer Prompt:
Lord, today I want to develop a relationship with you. Teach me to see you as more than just my heavenly Father, teach me to see you as my ultimate friend…

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