Have You not Done This to Yourself? (Jeremiah 2:17)

 Have You not Done This to Yourself? (Jeremiah 2:17)

A phrase used multiple times in the Old Testament goes along the lines, “you will fall into the pit that you yourself have dug.” In these texts, the “digger” intended the pit as a trap for someone else. It is important to remember where you dig your traps.

How many trappers have hidden traps in the woods or along a stream, only to return and become the prey themselves? But this happens to all of us.

I remember a friend on the tennis team in college, a kind and classy guy, who had a great line when his opponent argued about an “out” ball (players were responsible to call lines in their matches). Ken said to his opponent, “Why are you mad at me (for calling it out)? You were the one that hit it there.” We might be angry with a police officer for pulling us over for speeding. But who was doing the speeding? None of our arguments overturn the fact that we ourselves were driving over the posted speed limit. “Have you not done this to yourself?”

When we neglect to pay our bills and find that our credit rating has been cut, “have you not done this to yourself?” When we don’t bother to maintain the car and we face a major repair bill, “have you not done this to yourself?” And we could recount many more instances of stubborn foolishness on our part that produces a result that is entirely predictable, and, we did it to ourselves.

God in His love sent His Son Jesus as the only Savior for our sins. This message is clear, and it has been widely and repeatedly published. And yet many people have given no serious consideration to the greatness of the gift to be received, or the penalty of failing to do so. Someday, there will be a judgment, and I wonder if God will not perhaps use Jeremiah’s line from chapter 2 verse 17, “have you not done this to yourselves.” You yourself rejected the gift. You yourself chose a different way. You yourself will have brought your own condemnation rather than salvation down upon your own head.

Yes, there are many lies and deceptions that abound in the world. You may have been duped by some of them, such as, this earthly life is all that there is, and there is no such thing as eternal consequence. But every funeral you have ever attended says something quite different, and even you yourself, deep down, suspect that it is not true. Or you have heard that church is full of hypocrites, so you don’t go, because you don’t want to hear what you don’t want to hear. And there you go, doing it to yourself.