Treasure to Trash

• Lamentation 1:1-3,7a, 10,11

1 How deserted lies the city, once so full of people!

How like a widow is she,
who once was great among the nations!
She who was queen among the provinces
has now become a slave.

2 Bitterly she weeps at night,
tears are upon her cheeks.
Among all her lovers
there is none to comfort her.
All her friends have betrayed her;
they have become her enemies.

3 After affliction and harsh labor,
Judah has gone into exile.
She dwells among the nations;
she finds no resting place.
All who pursue her have overtaken her
in the midst of her distress.

7 In the days of her affliction and wandering
Jerusalem remembers all the treasures
that were hers in days of old.

10 The enemy laid hands
on all her treasures;
she saw pagan nations
enter her sanctuary—
those you had forbidden
to enter your assembly.

11 All her people groan as they search for bread;
they barter their treasures for food to keep themselves alive. [emphasis mine]

Do we ever "lament" over our sin? Do we think of the grave consequences that it will bring upon us? Do we realize everything that is at stake when we choose to disobey a Holy God?

• 
  Look at what happens to our treasures when we choose to sin. They (God’s blessings) were many – but we have to “recall them to mind” because they are gone.
• 
  The enemy stole them when we allowed "idols of our heart" to enter the sanctuary of our temple. We had to barter them in order to get food to keep us alive.
• 
  We went from “treasure” to “trash” – all over the fleeting and momentary pleasure of sin.

It's no wonder that the Prophet Jeremiah "lamented" over the city of Jerusalem when she was carried into captivity. He was grieved (for God) over her sin. She once had treasures untold - now she lay desolate.

Repentance begins in the heart. It's a turning from that sin - to the Living God. Obedience is key. Sin is an issue that we don't like to talk about - we want to beg forgiveness for it - and get on with it. Perhaps if we spent more time lamenting over it - it wouldn't come so easily the next time. Perhaps if we thought about the treasures that could be lost (over it) we would be slower to jump in the water.

I asked myself all these things today... how about you?

I DO NOT want to grieve the heart of God! I DO NOT want to lose the treasures that He has given so lavishly. I want to lament, repent and obey (with joy).

Let's not allow our "treasure" to be burned like "trash"!

Choosing JOY,

Stephanie