Un-In-Habit-Able Jeremiah 9 (NASB)

Jeremiah 9 (NASB)  7 Therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts “Behold, I will refine them and assay them; For what else can I do, because of the daughter of My people? 8 “Their tongue is a deadly arrow; It speaks deceit; With his mouth one speaks peace to his neighbor, But inwardly he sets an ambush for him. 9 “Shall I not punish them for these things?” declares the Lord. “On a nation such as this Shall I not avenge Myself? 10 “For the mountains I will take up a weeping and wailing, And for the pastures of the wilderness a dirge, Because they are laid waste so that no one passes through, And the lowing of the cattle is not heard; Both the birds of the sky and the beasts have fled; they are gone. 11 “I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, A haunt of jackals; And I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.” 12 Who is the wise man that may understand this? And who is he to whom the mouth of the Lord has spoken, that he may declare it? Why is the land ruined, laid waste like a desert, so that no one passes through? 13 The Lord said, “Because they have forsaken My law which I set before them, and have not obeyed My voice nor walked according to it, 14 but have walked after the stubbornness of their heart and after the Baals, as their fathers taught them,” 15 therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “behold, I will feed them, this people, with wormwood and give them poisoned water to drink. 16 I will scatter them among the nations, whom neither they nor their fathers have known; and I will send the sword after them until I have annihilated them.” The people of Israel had turned from God. They were worshiping other gods. The Lord could not ignore their disobedience so He was telling Jeremiah He was going to send His people into slavery in Babylon and Israel would become a wasteland. Are you in slavery? Have you laid your home a wasteland? Are you dry and parched, longing for living water to quench your thirst? When we turn from God and focus our attention on other gods, our home will become a wasteland. It could be the grips of an addiction. It doesn't have to be drugs or alcohol, it could be pornography, shopping, exercise, food or gambling. Anything that takes our focus off God and turns us to sin. I've known people who have stolen, lied, even given up custody of their  children, to fill that craving for their god. In doing so, they turned their home, their family, their life into a wasteland. Barren, parched and uninhabitable all to enable them to stay in their habit. If this is you today, there is hope, there is help, there is a rescuer. Start by turning to Jesus and ask for strength. Then, make a phone call. Google recovery sites, if you can't make that call, call someone you trust and ask them for help. There are so many support groups available. If you don't feel comfortable at the first one, keep trying until you find one that is a good fit for you. Don't stop trying, and don't stop asking, God will be there through it all. 2 Chronicles 7:14 NKJV  If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. Blessings, Cecilia