Yet your eyes and your heart are for nothing but your covetousness, for shedding innocent blood, and practicing oppression and violence. Jeremiah 22:17
The eyes and hearts of people are always focused on what one desires and wants. Those things are what capture the heart and eyes over everything else. It will also override what one says with one’s own mouth. People will often say one thing, but by their actions mean something completely different than what was said. The world is quick to talk about peace and love, but their actions are quite different.
Jeremiah quotes God as saying that their eyes and hearts are for nothing but what they want, shedding blood, oppression and violence. This is after God had blessed them greatly.
Everywhere one looks people are talking about the need for love and peace. Most want wars to be stopped, the violence to be curbed and joy to reign everywhere.
Although the world will talk about desiring peace and an end to violence, their actions are quite different. More murders are committed everyday by murdering unborn children than people were killed in any war in history in any given day. Movies reign in the theaters that promote extreme violence and death as good. Lifestyles that kill are promoted as good, acceptable and should be practiced. Violence against those who are doing good is acceptable.
These actions can be expected in the world, since the world does not know Jesus. However, many of these actions are seen in the church and promoted by the church as good.
God has blessed various nations over the centuries because, as a whole, they served God. Yet, many of those same nations have turned their backs on God to serve their own covetous eyes and hearts with killing the innocent, oppression and violence.
Believers are to put their whole heart and eyes upon God and His ways, turning from all sin.
The world will try to pressure you into its evil and sinful ways of living. You have a choice to make as to where you will focus your eyes and heart. Do not be deceived by the sinful ways the world defines love and peace but understand what God’s love and peace are. Live your whole life for God that will lead to eternal life and not for self-pleasure that will only lead to death.
Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Lord and Savior; that you will keep your eyes and heart focused upon God; that God will keep you from being led astray by the world’s deception and evil; and that God will keep you innocent of covetousness, shedding innocent blood, oppression and violence.
Picture by Greg Rosenke on Unsplash
Leave a Reply