Don’t Be Hard to Find in Your Father’s Search for Truth

“O LORD, do not your eyes look for truth?” (Jer 5:3)

The search was on in Jeremiah’s day.

Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem,
look and take note!
Search her squares to see
if you can find a man,
one who does justice
and seeks truth,
that I may pardon her. (5:1)

Truth was rare in those days. Just listen to the way Jeremiah’s peers were described:

O LORD, do not your eyes look for truth?
You have struck them down,
but they felt no anguish;
you have consumed them,
but they refused to take correction.
They have made their faces harder than rock;
they have refused to repent. (5:3)

By the end of the chapter…

An appalling and horrible thing
has happened in the land:
the prophets prophesy falsely,
and the priests rule at their direction;
my people love to have it so,
but what will you do when the end comes? (5:30-31)

For forty years, across the reigns of five kings, the word of the LORD was shared by the prophet Jeremiah, “until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the captivity of Jerusalem in the fifth month” (1:3). Eventually, “the end” came and most weren’t ready because they weren’t searching for the same thing as the LORD.

Circumstances have changed, more than 2,500 years have passed, but the search for truth hasn’t been called off. It’s ongoing. Who knows what angel might be told today…

Search the houses and apartments of the 21st century,
scan the social media feeds;
survey the schools and universities,
scrutinize the conference rooms and cubicles.
Seek out men of integrity;
look for women of righteousness;
note young adults of principle,
senior saints of dignity, self-control, and steadfastness,
sincere people of goodness, kindness, and faithfulness
who do justice and seek truth…

Are we searching for the same thing as the LORD? Whatever the era, there will always be someone willing to help you twist the truth if you’re looking to evade it. In the twenty-first century, it’s not hard to find a video, podcast, book, channel, blog, newsletter, preacher, pastor, “prophet,” or “priest” who will tell you exactly what you want to hear if you’re looking to avoid accountability, soothe a pricked conscience, downplay the consequences of your choices, ignore correction, and do your own thing, all while refusing to repent. It’s all been right there in Jeremiah 5:3 for 2,500+ years. But if those are the counselors I’m listening to and the guides I’m following, what will I do when the end comes?

I may love to have it so, but just because I found someone who told me what I wanted to hear…

…doesn’t make it true.

All the while, our Creator’s search for truth continues…

The eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him. (2 Chron 16:9)

Doesn’t it sound like this really boils down to the question of what I’m searching for? A blameless heart or someone to blame? A tender conscience or a face harder than rock? Atonement or affirmation? Pardon or pride?

Let’s not be hard to find in our Father’s search for truth this week.

Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being… (Psa 51:6)