Jeremiah 8:4–6 (NIV)—“Say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says: “‘When people fall down, do they not get up? When someone turns away, do they not return? Why then have these people turned away? Why does Jerusalem always turn away? They cling to deceit; they refuse to return. I have listened attentively, but they do not say what is right. None of them repent of their wickedness, saying, “What have I done?” Each pursues their own course like a horse charging into battle.
Before traveling to Iceland, my husband and I watched a comical cartoon video about driving in Iceland. One of the most memorable parts was a car running into a sheep and the sheep toppling over the car. Another part of the video detailed the blind crests and curves, showing one car crashing into the back of another. The important message came through: use care when driving and know the rules of the road.
Charging headfirst into Iceland without this knowledge speaks of disaster waiting to happen, and I can reliably inform you that sheep do roam freely around every bend in Iceland and tourists do stop their vehicles in the middle of the road to catch of glimpse of the sheep and the scenery.
I can imagine Jeremiah 8 as a cautionary video montage of dead bodies lying in the sun, statues of gods falling on top of people, the leaves of fig trees withering, a mass of people clutching their stomachs from hunger, and the voice-over repeatedly saying, “Repent! Ask, ‘What have I done?’”
Yet the people of Judah ignored God, instead stopping in the middle of the road to gaze at their foreign idols, among their other sins. They did not truly know God’s law and did not ask him to explain.
As God’s people, we can ask God how we ran into a sheep in the middle of the road. God wants us to ask, “What have I done?” and to repent. For when we ask, when we study God’s word, when we meditate on it, we receive answers and can stand up again and return to walking God’s path.
