Jeremiah 7

v9-11. "Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name, and say, 'We are safe'-safe to do all these detestable things? Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching!" declares the Lord.

God sounds really angry and frustrated at the people of Judah here. Joe talked about this briefly in his message on Sunday, how we take God's grace and the blood of Jesus for granted. Because we know that we are saved through the blood of the Lamb, we sin whenever we want to, like these Israelites. It's true that we are safe from all evil and we can take refuge from sin, but that also doesn't mean for us to go out and sin whenever we want to. I think people back then, and even now, misunderstand and justify their evil wrongdoings with God's grace. It's a terrible thing to do, and everytime we do that, we're nailing Jesus on the cross again.

v24. But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts. They went backward and not forward."

Here, God is saying how He brought those people out of Egypt. He told those people not how to give sacrificial offerings as thanks to the Lord, but also to follow and obey God's commands. But these stubborn people didn't. God says that He watched them go backward and not forward.

In my personal walk with Christ, I can't even count how many times i might've done that to God. And everytime, I know I've been washed clean but that doesn't justify my actions, attitudes, words. I need to be really conscious of how I live because most of the times i give in to the stubbornness of my selfish desires and I forget to listen to God.