God wants to save His people. He wants to save Israel. He wants to save the church, but He can’t just do it. There is justice. There is righteousness. There is holiness. God can’t just ignore sin or ignore people choosing to turn from Him. He doesn’t force Himself on us. We get to choose Him. I do think He uses prayers of people to have “permission” to act in a life where otherwise they wouldn’t have been choosing Him.

But He tries. Think of Isaiah 5 about the vineyard where God says, “What more could I have done?” He wants to save His people. He wants everyone to be saved. He desires all to be saved and come to a knowledge of truth. He’s not willing that any should perish. But God is love and love does not insist on its own way.

What does God do? In this chapter a couple of the things mentioned are God setting watchmen over the city to warn them of danger, but the people refuse to pay attention.

He also points out to them the “good way” that will give their souls rest, but they refuse to walk in it.

However, notice that these people are still offering sacrifices to God trying to earn His favor. God says that none of their sacrifices are acceptable or pleasing.

God’s not pleased with Sunday morning worship that’s not followed by Monday morning obedience and faithfulness.

There is a scary line at the end of Jeremiah 6. It says that the refining goes on in vain. The Lord is trying to cleanse, to purify, to prepare a people for His own possession who must be holy and without spot or blemish, but the wicked are hanging on. And the chapter ends with, “the Lord has rejected them.”

The church loves to sing of the mercy of God and loves to come to God again and again for forgiveness. His mercy is enduring, and there is no sin that He won’t forgive in those that come confessing in repentance, but there is a limit.

We don’t get to just continue in willful sin. We’ll harden our own hearts and become calloused like the wicked of Jeremiah 6. God will try and try, but we won’t hear or humble ourselves.