Walking away from eternal life

“Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has the health of the daughter of my people not been restored?” Jeremiah 8:22.

The prophet is experiencing what Paul will later express in 2 Corinthians 11:28-29 as he recounts what he has suffered for the gospel,

“And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?”

Every preacher who has invested himself into the work of God’s kingdom and has known the discouragement and frustration of working with people who so easily walk away from eternal life knows the heartsickness about those who should be God’s people but have refused to repent from rebelling against His commands that Jeremiah speaks about in this passage. They are the daughter of God’s people for whom we sacrifice ourselves to serve because our Savior sacrificed Himself for us.

We, though, with the hindsight of His-story preserved for us in the pages of His Word, can answer Jeremiah’s questions.

Yes, there is a balm in Gilead! Jesus is the Great Physician who heals “the sin-sick soul” completely, says the old folk song.