Jeremiah 3-4  This message brought Jeremiah to tears. " My soul, my soul! I am in anguish! Oh, my heart!" ( 4:19)    It is the message of God's own anguish at the rebellion and treachery of His people.

Israel had been faithless.
She turned away from her Lord.
She had turned to every idol.
She had been given a "writ of divorce" and sent away.

But, Judah did not learn from her sister's failures or judgement.
Instead, she became worse.. she is accused of treachery. A betrayal, a treasonous, covert and deceitful rejection of the Lord.

The Lord says that Judah is like an adulterous woman who sneaks out to see her many lovers, but then comes back home to her husband, and is not even ashamed at her actions.
He says that Judah still calls Him, "My Father" and wonders why He is angry or indignant with her as she goes after every idol.. every tree and stone image she can find!

Judah's treachery makes Israel look "more righteous". 
The Lord would even bring Israel back home if they would, "Only acknowledge your iniquity, that you have transgressed against the Lord your God and have scattered your favors to the strangers under every green tree and you have not obeyed the My voice." 

The Lord wanted His people to return.. and one day they will fulfill all that is written here:
Jerusalem will be called "The Throne of the Lord". 
"...All the nations will be gathered to it, to Jerusalem, for the name of the Lord;" 

God offers to Israel and to all of us what we can never have on  our own -
a "beautiful inheritance. " v19
healing of our faithlessness v22
" truth... justice and righteousness, " 4:2
blessing and glory in Him.

But we must do as He asks:

We must put away our "detested things" from His presence.  There must be NO things that come before Him and we cannot waver in our complete commitment and devotion to Him!

We must be willing to "circumcise" ourselves to the Lord,  and "remove the foreskins of your heart".
This entails a total exposure of our hearts to Him.. allowing Him to cut away and destroy everything that keeps us from being His completely. (v3)
We must "wash [our] heart form evil.. that [we] may be saved." (v14)

Our Lord, the One and only God, the self-existent One who is the Creator and King of all the universe calls each of us to "come".  To come in repentance, in humility, in submission, and in brokenness before Him.. so that we can live.  The gift of abundant life filled with love and joy, peace and grace.. is well worth everything we think we have.. which in reality is only rubbish.  But, like Judah so many of us are  "... foolish.  They know me not; they are stupid children, and they have no understanding. They are shrewd to do evil, but to do good they do not know. " 

Pretty accurate description of our world today, I am sad to say.
Jeremiah goes on in chapter 4 to describe the fate of Judah.. and perhaps of the earth itself;
it becomes formless and empty v23
there is no light from the heavens v23
the mountains quake v24
no men are left v25
the birds of the heavens flee v25
the once fruitful land is a desert v26
the cities are destroyed v26
"The whole land shall be a desolation," says the Lord.

BUT,  there is hope,  " Yet I will not execute a complete destruction. " 

Like Israel and Judah, judgement will come to every nation and to every individual.  Judgement for rebellion and treachery.  Judgement for faithlessness and for deception.  Judah tried to cover up her idolatry and proclaim her faith in God.. but that does not work.  Our God is a jealous God and He will not accept a divided heart. If we do not worship and serve Him and only Him, we will find ourselves devastated like Judah.  Are we "stupid children" without understanding ? Do we really Know Him?
If we think that we can live any way we want to.. we are foolish.

If we belong to the Lord, and are indeed saved by the blood of Jesus Christ, then we need to fully live for Him and in fellowship with Him. We must confess our sins and open our hearts to Him.  We must wash our hearts from evil and put away anything that comes between us and our Lord. 

Father in heaven, hallowed is Your Name.  Your kingdom come!  Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  We want to live in complete dependance and submission to You, our God.  Father, forgive us our trespasses and deliver us from all evil.  Circumcise our hearts and renew our minds.  We offer our bodies... our entire beings into Your service. Thank You for being gracious and merciful.  Thank You that you are not angry with us forever, but that You keep offering us forgiveness and salvation, truth, justice and righteousness.. when we turn to You.  Bring our wayward loved ones back to You we pray, in Jesus' mighty Name. Amen.