Wickedness is not simply about breaking God’s commands, but about breaking God’s heart—turning away from the One who provides, sustains, and loves us, often without us even realizing it. When we go astray, we are not just violating a rulebook; we are wounding the relationship with the God who longs for us to come home, who grieves when we choose other paths, and who desires our love above all else. [36:19]
Psalm 50:1-3 (ESV)
The Mighty One, God the Lord, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting. Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth. Our God comes; he does not keep silence; before him is a devouring fire, around him a mighty tempest.
Reflection: In what area of your life have you been taking God’s presence and provision for granted, and how can you intentionally acknowledge and honor God’s love for you today?
God’s people are described as forsaking the fountain of living waters and digging broken cisterns that cannot hold water, a vivid image of spiritual betrayal and unfaithfulness. Just as a spouse’s betrayal cuts deeply, so does our turning away from God to seek fulfillment elsewhere, leaving behind the true source of life and love. [39:07]
Jeremiah 2:13; 3:20 (ESV)
“For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.”
“Surely, as a treacherous wife leaves her husband, so have you been treacherous to me, O house of Israel, declares the Lord.”
Reflection: What “broken cisterns” or false sources of fulfillment have you been turning to instead of God, and what would it look like to return to the fountain of living waters this week?
Wickedness is not only betrayal but also rejection—like a child who pulls away from a loving parent, refusing to recognize or appreciate the care and healing offered. God’s heart aches when we turn away, yet God continues to reach out, longing for us to return and receive the love that never ends. [42:04]
Hosea 11:7; 11:3-4 (ESV)
“My people are bent on turning away from me, and though they call out to the Most High, he shall not raise them up at all.”
“Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk; I took them up by their arms, but they did not know that I healed them. I led them with cords of kindness, with the bands of love, and I became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws, and I bent down to them and fed them.”
Reflection: When have you sensed God reaching out to you, and how might you respond today to God’s persistent, parental love?
Jesus warns against hypocrisy—professing faith with our lips while our actions betray a lack of love for God and neighbor—and against focusing on trivial matters while neglecting justice, mercy, and faithfulness. True faith is not about deciding who is in or out, but about loving God with all our heart and loving our neighbor as ourselves, letting God’s grace and mercy flow through us to others. [47:28]
Matthew 23:23-28 (ESV)
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel! Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”
Reflection: Where in your life are you tempted to focus on outward appearances or minor issues, and how can you instead practice justice, mercy, and faithfulness toward others today?
No matter how far we have wandered, God’s love never ends—God continually reaches out, longing to gather us in, offering grace and restoration. The invitation is always open to return, to receive the love and forgiveness of Christ, and to live each day nourished by that love, sharing it with others as we point the way to the gate of God’s kingdom. [54:38]
Romans 8:38-39 (ESV)
For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Reflection: Is there a place in your heart where you feel distant from God? What is one step you can take today to return to God’s open arms and let His love restore you?
The call to worship today reminds us that God, the Creator, continually speaks and summons us into relationship, from the rising of the sun to its setting. Yet, so often, we take for granted the very breath and life that God provides, wandering away like sheep, not realizing that everything we have is a gift from the One who made it all. The heart of wickedness, as revealed in Scripture, is not simply about breaking rules, but about breaking relationship—turning away from the God who loves us, provides for us, and longs for us to return. Jeremiah and Hosea both use the language of betrayal and rejection to describe how our actions wound God: like a spouse who is unfaithful or a child who turns away from a loving parent. These images cut to the core, showing that our wandering and hardened hearts are not just about disobedience, but about breaking God’s heart.
Jesus echoes this lament, longing to gather us as a mother hen gathers her chicks, but so often we are unwilling. He warns against hypocrisy—professing love for God while failing to love our neighbors, shutting the door of the kingdom in others’ faces, and majoring in the minors while neglecting justice, mercy, and faithfulness. These are not just failures of morality, but failures of relationship, ways we reject and betray the God who continually reaches out to us.
Yet, the good news is that God’s love song for us never ends. While we may turn away, God keeps turning toward us, longing for restoration rather than rejection. Like the persistent donkey in Shrek, God refuses to give up on us, always knocking, always ready to welcome us home. No matter how far we have wandered, no matter how deeply we have betrayed or rejected God, the invitation remains: come back to the fountain of living waters, to the arms of the loving Parent, to the Savior who longs to gather us in. Fear is not the motivation for following Christ; love is. The bread and the cup remind us that God’s love is always available, always sufficient, and always calling us to return, to be restored, and to share that love with others.
1. Psalm 50:1-2 (ESV) — > The Mighty One, God the LORD, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting. Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth.
2. Jeremiah 2:13 (ESV) — > For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.
3. Matthew 23:37 (ESV) — > “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!”
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