Jeremiah 3:20

 Jeremiah 3:20 says, Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the LORD.  Again God compared Israel to an unfaithful wife.  When a man and a woman marry, they take vows to remain faithful to each other, just as the people of Israel had taken a vow to remain faithful to God, as do we today as followers of Christ.  There are no days when a marriage is not in effect, and there are no days when our vow to be faithful to God is not in effect.  Verse twenty-one states, A voice was heard upon the high places, weeping and supplications of the children of Israel: for they have perverted their way, and they have forgotten the LORD their God.  Jeremiah said that here was weeping heard in the high places. where people should be worshipping, because the children of Israel had forgotten the LORD their God.  Not all of God's people had forgotten Him, and they were making supplication for the rest of Israel because they had.  There is never a time when there is no one who does not believe in God, though at times it may be a small remnant.  Verse twenty-two declares, Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the LORD our God.  There was a call for the backslidden people of Israel to return to the LORD, Whom they called their God, and to be healed.  If we stray away from God, we must first be one of His children to begin with, and then if we stray, we must first return to Him in order to be spiritually healed.  Verse twenty-three adds, Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude of mountains: truly in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel.  God said that people were looking in vain for salvation anywhere except in Him, and what was true then has always been and always will be true.  By faith in God alone can we find salvation.  Verse twenty-four continues, For shame hath devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth; their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.  Like the people of Israel, if we labor outside the will of God, it will only bring us shame before God, and our labor will be in vain.  Verse twenty-five concludes, We lie down in our shame, and our confusion covereth us: for we have sinned against the LORD our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God.  God said that the people of Israel, His chosen people, laid down in shame because they had sinned against Him.  If we are unfaithful to our relationship with God through our faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, it can only bring us shame.