Beginning Anew

Jeremiah 2: ²⁶"Like a thief, Israel feels shame only when she gets caught. Kings, officials, priests, and prophets--all are alike in this. ²⁷To an image carved from a piece of wood they say, `You are my father.' To an idol chiseled out of stone they say, `You are my mother.' They turn their backs on me, but in times of trouble they cry out for me to save them! ²⁸Why don't you call on these gods you have made? When danger comes, let them save you if they can! For you have as many gods as there are cities and towns in Judah.

I read this passage the other night when I had to go sit at a remote tower site to let the tower guys re-lamp the beacons. I'm sure I had read it before, but it kind of struck me this time. Maybe it's the NLT version that made it clear up.

How many of us are like this? We go out an do our own thing and manage to get ourselves in trouble, and suddenly we are the most God fearing person on the planet! Only because we got caught do we feel the need to apologize or ask forgiveness... not because we know it greives the Father.

Our lessons in youth have been centered on identity lately. This is a great subject for Middle-School folks. Last night we talked about "Inside-out" Christians versus "Outside-In" Chrisitans. "Inside out" means that we let Jesus into our heart and he works from the inside out and crucifies our sinful nature (See Galatians 5:16-17 and 24-25). An "outside-in" christian trys to make themselves good by making external changes that don't start by changing their heart (i'm going to quit *insert bad thing here*).

Where do you fall in this? Am I way off base? Let me know what you think!