Israel was holy to the LORD, the firstfruits of his harvest; all who devoured her were held guilty, and disaster overtook them,'" declares the LORD. – Jeremiah 2:3

Today's Scripture Reading (June 23, 2026): Jeremiah 2

Growing up, I loved playing pick-up sports on any field that presented itself; however, I always hated the process of picking teams. It can be embarrassing. The best players, of course, were always picked first. And the worst players got picked last. When it came down to the end of the process, it was the smallest, slowest, and the kids with the least talent that were left. Often, when we came down to the last kids on the list, someone would say, "You take them." I mean, how bad does that make you feel? Your talents are so unwanted that in the process of picking teams, you are given away to the opposing team.

Sometimes, those giveaways came back to haunt the giver. I remember one such game. We were preparing to play a pick-up game of football [American], something that I liked to do as often as possible during the summer. We picked the teams, and the last kid was this scrawny girl. It was my pick, and I refused to give her away. She apparently wanted to play football, but she didn't do anything. The other kids would run routes and try to get open so that I could throw them the ball, but she just stood there watching, never leaving the line of scrimmage. We had played for a while, and the person assigned to guard her ended up helping cover other people, because this girl wasn't doing anything.

I decided that I needed to get her the ball. I called her over and nonchalantly told her I wanted her to stand beside me. When I said "ball", I wanted her to take two steps forward and turn around. I would throw her the ball, and all I wanted her to do was catch the soft toss and run toward the opposing endzone until someone touched her. I remember stressing, "Don't throw the ball" (inexperienced players often get so excited when they are about to be "Tackled" or "Touched" in touch football that they throw the ball away).

The play started. My new friend took two steps in front of me and turned around. I softly tossed the ball underhand to her, and she caught it. Then she ran. And could she run. No one could catch her. She ran, dodged, and left the players who were picked first in her dust. She left me wondering why she had just stood there throughout the first portion of the game.

Jeremiah says that God picked Israel first. Israel wasn't his only choice, and despite being chosen first, they weren't even the best. But God had set the expectations for his nation. "I am the Lord, who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy" (Leviticus 11:45).

For a while, they had done just that. They had avoided the trap of worshiping Egyptian gods. But they just couldn't seem to keep it up. Like young football players, they often became excited or worried and chose other gods and idols for worship. They threw the ball away. They could follow the God of the Patriarchs for a while, but not for the long run, even though God had promised to honor and defend her.

They were God's first choice, but often struggled to live up to that honor.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 3