Abandoning God?

At his blog, biblical scholar Dr. Jim West lists a favorite question of his from scripture to say why Jeremiah is one of his favorite books of the Bible,

Jeremiah gets pride of place because of sentences like this one: כה אמר יהוה מה־מצאו אבותיכם בי עול כי רחקו מעלי וילכו אחרי ההבל ויהבלו׃.

Indeed! Oh, sorry, that’s Jeremiah 2:5, in English Thus says the LORD: What wrong did your ancestors find in me that they went far from me, and went after worthless things, and became worthless themselves?

Now that’s a good question! What’s wrong with God, that you abandon him?

Jeremiah knows that when we wander away from God, we are wandering after worthless things and making ourselves worthless in the process. In what ways do people abandon God? For Jeremiah the answer was in chasing after idols and other gods. But it is clear that Jim feels the question is still relevant and I agree with him. We still can pursue worthless things even if they are not actual idols made to represent other gods. Right?

peace,
Frank+
The Rev. Frank Logue, Pastor