Playing Freeze Tag With God?

Jeremiah 7:1-15

There are games that I remember from my childhood with great fondness. At Freeman family reunions the cousins would often play kick the can in the back yard. With my mother's kin we would all play charades, kids and adults. One game that we often played in the schoolyard back home was some variation of freeze tag. If you were tagged by the person who was "it" you had to remain frozen until another player touched you. Of course there was always a "base" where a player would be safe from being tagged.

I thought of childhood games when I read the passage from Jeremiah for today. God is warning the people against their false assumptions. "Do not trust in these deceptive words: 'This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord...'. Here you are, trusting in deceptive words to no avail. Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, 'We are safe!'" (Jeremiah 7:4, 8-9). It sounds very much like a childish game, with a singsong refrain and even a "base" where the people believe they will be safe from judgment.

But it doesn't work that way, does it? We may make all the assumptions we want, but God's will is not a game. God seeks justice and righteousness and does not accept insincere actions designed to "get God off of our back." So here is a question to ponder today: do we have faith mature enough to do what God intends, or is ours an immature faith that is happy just playing at justice? Yes, we are children of God. And yes, God wants us to live in joy and peace. But that does not give us license to ignore the claims that God makes on us or to make assumptions about God based on our own desires. Freeze tag is fun, but faith is hard work that requires us to pay attention.

Prayer: Gracious God, help us to develop mature faith and to live according to your will all the days of our lives. Amen.