Jeremiah 7:8 “But look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless.”

Some people seem to have faith in faith, but actually it makes a huge difference what we believe. The Japanese have a proverb, “Even a sardine’s head can be an object of worship,” but a sardine’s head never saved anybody! As Paul said, we like to please our “itching ears,” but only God’s truth will set us free. The people of Judah in Jeremiah’s time were trusting in the temple as a “lucky talisman” to save them, but here that attitude is being directly disproved. They needed to be true to the God to whom the temple was dedicated, rather than trusting that the temple itself would save them. Today we have countless churches that follow their traditions and can’t understand why God doesn’t bless them, instead of seeking the God who is behind those traditions. It’s not necessarily that the traditions are bad, any more than the temple in Jerusalem was bad, but that people lose sight of the underlying reality and focus on essentially trivial things. God is calling the Bride of Christ back to her first love, just as He did the church in Ephesus in Revelation. (Revelation 2:4) Couples on the verge of divorce need to remember what attracted them to each other in the first place, and focus on what is important instead of on all the irritations that have crept in. God has not forgotten why He sent His Son to save us; we need to remember why we accepted His invitation, said yes to His proposal, as it were.

The book I just finished (Heaven and Hell, by Retha and Aldo McPherson) is very strong on this point, and the conference I’m attending is bringing it out as well. I have been “in the church,” so to speak, from my conception, and was baptized at age seven, so I’ve got plenty of tradition and habit piled up. I too need to examine what I’m trusting, to be sure my focus is on the Lord and not the traditions of men. At the same time, I’m not to be judgmental about traditions, throwing the baby out with the bath water, as the saying goes. There was a while when I wasn’t big on singing hymns, simply because they were “so old.” Some of them frankly aren’t worth much, but some are rich indeed, pointing us to things that are of vital importance that we must not forget. I’ve got to examine everything through the Lord’s eyes, as He gives me the ability, but still not trust that I personally have it all right. I have lived too long to still think I have a perfect handle on anything! As I point people to the God I know, standing on His Word, I need to be sure my focus is on Him and nothing less, remembering that He loves them as much as He does me, and He reveals Himself to each of us in slightly different ways. At this conference we have a large contingent from a church in Singapore to whom God has given a burden for Japan. Their perspective is naturally slightly different from mine, but we serve the same Lord, and they are my brothers and sisters in Christ. I am to serve our Lord in serving them, just as they are serving the Lord through serving the Japanese, so that the Body of Christ may be built up as He intends, not limited to any merely human conceptions.

Father, thank You for all You have done here in the past two days, and all You are going to do in this morning’s session. Thank You that my interpreting yesterday seems to have been a blessing, as imperfect as it was. I ask for hearing, understanding and anointing as I interpret again this morning, particularly since the person to whom I’m assigned speaks fast! May Your truth be communicated accurately in both languages, so that Your purposes may be fulfilled for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!