Jeremiah 6: ²⁷ “Jeremiah, I have made you a tester of metals, that you may determine the quality of my people. ²⁸ They are the worst kind of rebel, full of slander. They are as hard as bronze and iron, and they lead others into corruption. ²⁹ The bellows fiercely fan the flames to burn out the corruption. But it does not purify them, for the wickedness remains. ³⁰ I will label them ‘Rejected Silver,’ for I, the Lord, am discarding them.”

 

I read this and I think how horrible it would be for God to discard me.. to consider me rejected silver... it would just break my heart... I have fallen so many times... I have done so much wrong.. and yet God did not completely reject me.. He did not discard me.. even though my heart was evil... yet He saw something of Him deep within me...

 

I am so thankful that God did not give up on me.. I will spend the rest of my life praising Him and worshipping Him and serving Him for being so faithful to me when I was not faithful to Him...

Exodus 23: ²⁰ “See, I am sending an angel before you to protect you on your journey and lead you safely to the place I have prepared for you. ²¹ Pay close attention to him, and obey his instructions. Do not rebel against him, for he is my representative, and he will not forgive your rebellion. ²² But if you are careful to obey him, following all my instructions, then I will be an enemy to your enemies, and I will oppose those who oppose you. ²³ For my angel will go before you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites, and Jebusites, so you may live there. And I will destroy them completely. ²⁴ You must not worship the gods of these nations or serve them in any way or imitate their evil practices. Instead, you must utterly destroy them and smash their sacred pillars.

 

as I was reading this last night I was thinking.. God sends an angel out before us.. preparing our path and protecting us so that we get where He is wanting us to get... I thought that was an awesome reality...

 

then He states " do not rebel against him for he is My representative and he will not forgive your rebellion".. well I gotta say.. that did not sit too well with me.. I have surely rebelled many a day against the way God would have me to go... so does that mean that I won't make it where I am going? does it mean we never reach our personal promised land?

 

I don't really think it does.. my prayer/hope would be that yea.. maybe God would back up from us for a while... but as we turn back toward Him.. and we always do eventually turn back toward Him if we really knew Him... then the journey begins again.. and this time.. or maybe not for another 100 times.. but eventually.. we do follow obediently... other than unintentionaly mess ups... because at this time.. we really do desire to live God's will out... and then those promises.. that the angel will be with us and fight with us and for us and he will protect us.. then we really have that angel doing all those things...

 

and I am thankful for that... I am thankful that God doesn't give up on us in our rebellion and immaturity... He allows us to learn the hard way that our way is not the right way... and He brings us finally to our promised land... and lives and resides with us...