“Whatever makes you happy.”

“Just live your truth.”

“Live your best life”

These are our phrases. I wonder what Jerusalem’s phrases were before she fell. What slang they used to justify their sin.

“Her fall was astounding” the Scripture say (Lam 1).

She didn’t consider her future it says. She considered herself. Her pleasure. Her happiness. And not the ways of God. God’s ways are good and his desire is for our best life, but that is on his terms not on ours.

When Jerusalem fell the world was aghast. Her enemies mocked her. Her allies betrayed her. And her people lay dead on the street for lack of food. It was horror upon horror.

It wasn’t that she hadn’t been warned. She had.
It wasn’t that she hadn’t seen it coming. She did and closed her eyes.

But Jerusalem refused to listen. Refused to hear. Refused to see.

Sin was much more fun.

When it came crashing down, it crashed hard. Very hard. It was death, sorrow, tears, grief and no more joy in the cities.

—

When I read these the first thing I want to do is go out and buy food. Basically because I see that we are not more than a few years away from the same. But we have to do what God has spoken to us individually to do and that doesn’t always mean running out and buying food. Sometimes it does. But not for every person.

But our time of grieving is coming. We too have hardened our hearts. Our pleasures have not yet reached their discipline. And when it does, it will be horrible. We will not the LORD and each other to survive. And some won’t.

Nations fall. Every nation falls (except Israel). And every large nation and empire and civilization falls. It’s just when. Unfortunate I think the when has arrived.

Will we ever learn?

Let’s plead God’s mercy. Perhaps He will grant it.