You have behaved more wickedly than your fathers
(NIV 1984, Jeremiah 16:12).
When people asked why God had turned his face against them,
Jeremiah was instructed to give this response: “It is because your
ancestors forsook me,” declares the Lord, “and followed other gods and served
and worshiped them . . . But you have behaved more wickedly than your
ancestors” (vv.11,12).
It’s easy to blame previous generations for all the ills of
the world. After all, I never took part in the crusades; I never owned a slave;
I never turned a black man away from my place of business; I never sold guns to
warlords or criminals; and I never dumped toxic waste in a wildlife refuge. Don’t
blame me for the crimes perpetrated by those who came before me!
But the writers of the Bible don’t let us off that easily. We
all, like sheep, have gone astray; each of us has turned to our own way (Isaiah 53:6). All have sinned and
fall short of the glory of God (Romans
3:23).
Part of growing up is taking responsibility for our own
actions and attitudes. Kids blame everyone else for their troubles. Adults
don’t get that luxury. In The Bait of Satan, author John Bevere
writes: “There is a false sense of protection in harboring an offense. It keeps
you from seeing your own character flaws because the blame is deferred to
another” [11].
TODAY’S MEDITATION
Ask God to show your
culpability in things for which you’ve been shifting blame to others. If
necessary, acknowledge the truth and repent.
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