"For as the sash clings to the waist of a man, so I have caused the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah to cling to Me,’ says the LORD, ‘that they may become My people, for renown, for praise, and for glory; but they would not hear.’ (Jeremiah 13:11).
I can't help but feel God's disappointment with His own people whenever I read the book of Jeremiah. The people that God chose as His own special treasure had decided to drift away from Him. They had decided not to obey His commands. They had decided to deny Him as their God, who has on many occasions helped them through difficult times. They had made a choice to deviate from the divine plan that God had for them. The disobeyed His call for repentance as proclaimed by the prophets.
My dear friend, we are the spiritual Israel. We are God's chosen generation and we are so special to Him. Let us not disappoint Him. He has chosen us for a specific reason. Through us His name should be known everywhere we go (renown). Through us God must be praised. Through us God must be glorified. We are His people and He is our God.
The people of Israel did not listen to God's voice. God wanted them to cling to Him but they would not hear. They were caught up in their worldly desires. Even though we are the chosen ones today, we should not forget that we are still living in the world. If we fail to cling to God we are making ourselves susceptible to worldly forces that will drive us farther away from our dear God.
Before Joshua died, He warned the people of Israel to cling to God and not associate themselves with the lifestyles of the nations they found in the Promised Land because "...they shall be snares and traps to you, and scourges on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land which the LORD your God has given you," (Joshua 23:13).
Let us not lose what we have by failing to cling to God. The word cling is defined as to hold fast to something; to adhere as if glued firmly; to hold on tightly or tenaciously. That is what God is expecting from us. God made Jeremiah to wear the linen sash around his waist before telling him go to the Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole in the rock. Later he told Him to go and fetch the sash. Jeremiah says, "Then I went to the Euphrates and dug, and I took the sash from the place where I had hidden it; and there was the sash, ruined. It was profitable for nothing," (Jeremiah 13:7).
God wants you to be profitable for His kingdom. You are an ambassador for Christ. You are an ambassador for the kingdom of God. Therefore God wants to profit from you. He wants to be known through you. He wants to be praised because of the way you conduct yourself. You are the light of the world and God's glory must shine through you.
All you have to do is to cling to Him like the linen sash on a man's waist. Biblically, linen is a symbol of righteousness and purity. Even though we are in this crooked world, we have to exhibit the righteousness and holiness of God and He shall be glorified. If we cling to God, He will make sure that He takes care of us because whatever happens to us, His name is on the line, and He shall not allow his name to be ridiculed.
My dear friend, God wants you to stay with Him and He will stay with you. He has promised that He will never leave us nor forsake us. Let us rejoice "For God is with the generation of the righteous," (Psalm 14:5).
Whatever happens, God is saying, "Cling to me!"
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