Sometimes I live like God is more of a concept or a character in a book than a real Person with feelings and plans and my eternal destiny in His hands. Then I read a verse like Jeremiah 2:19 and it jolts me back to reality.

“Your wickedness will punish you;
your backsliding will rebuke you.
Consider then and realize
how evil and bitter it is for you
when you forsake the LORD your God
and have no awe of me,”
declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty.

The wickedness that Israel was guilty of was this: they had forsaken God. They had forgotten Him. Instead of loving and seeking Him, they turned their backs on Him and worshiped idols and other gods.

Have you ever stopped to consider how evil and bitter it is to forsake God? To turn away from Him and give your attention to other things?

When was the last time you felt in awe of God? When you trembled a little at the thought of ignoring or disobeying Him?

So what does this have to do with delighting ourselves in the Lord?

It’s simple. You and I will choose to delight in someone or something today. It could be your work. Maybe it’s a hobby or TV show. It might be a house, a car or a vacation. For some, it’s a relationship…or the hope of one. It could be anything.

To delight in something means to find pleasure or enjoyment in it. So what are you delighting in today more than you’re delighting in God? Whatever it is…that’s your idol. When we forget God and have no awe of Him, we naturally turn to our idols.

I’m guilty. How about you?

God’s loving challenge is this: consider how evil and bitter it is to forsake Him and have no awe of Him. Then turn back by choosing to delight in Him, to find your real pleasure and real enjoyment in Him.

“Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4