The Best Place to be…

O Lord, do not your eyes look for truth? You have struck them down, but they felt no anguish; you have consumed them, but they refused to take correction. They have made their faces harder than rock; they have refused to repent. Then I said, “These are only the poor; they have no sense; for they do not know the way of the Lord, the justice of their God. I will go to the great and will speak to them, for they know the way of the Lord, the justice of their God.” But they all alike had broken the yoke; they had burst the bonds. Therefore a lion from the forest shall strike them down; a wolf from the desert shall devastate them. A leopard is watching their cities; everyone who goes out of them shall be torn in pieces, because their transgressions are many, their apostasies are great. 
“How can I pardon you? Your children have forsaken me and have sworn by those who are no gods. When I fed them to the full, they committed adultery and trooped to the houses of whores. (Jeremiah 5:1-7)

Jeremiah uses colorful but crude words to describe the condition of God's people who were worshiping other gods. They were like men who lusted after women other than their wives. He tells them what will happen to them because they refused to listen to and obey Him:

Shall I not punish them for these things? declares the Lord; and shall I not avenge myself on a nation such as this? “Go up through her vine rows and destroy, but make not a full end; strip away her branches, for they are not the Lord’s. For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have been utterly treacherous to me, declares the Lord. They have spoken falsely of the Lord and have said, ‘He will do nothing; no disaster will come upon us, nor shall we see sword or famine. The prophets will become wind; the word is not in them. Thus shall it be done to them!’ ” 
Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of hosts: “Because you have spoken this word, behold, I am making my words in your mouth a fire, and this people wood, and the fire shall consume them. Behold, I am bringing against you a nation from afar, O house of Israel, declares the Lord. It is an enduring nation; it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know, nor can you understand what they say. Their quiver is like an open tomb; they are all mighty warriors. They shall eat up your harvest and your food; they shall eat up your sons and your daughters; they shall eat up your flocks and your herds; they shall eat up your vines and your fig trees; your fortified cities in which you trust they shall beat down with the sword.” 
“But even in those days, declares the Lord, I will not make a full end of you. And when your people say, ‘Why has the Lord our God done all these things to us?’ you shall say to them, ‘As you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your land, so you shall serve foreigners in a land that is not yours.’ ” (Jeremiah 5:8–19)

Even though obedience to God does not earn salvation or His mercy, when God freely offers it and we refuse it, there are consequences for our rejection. Like this OT description, I can expect that ignoring God to do my own thing (sin) things will happen that could have been avoided, or at least I will remove my ability to remain joyful in trials — because God will not bless my disobedience.

I could be wrong, but in my observations, obedience does not make for a prosperous life (it could) but it can make for peace and joy in trials. If I am disobedient, trials are designed to pull me to the faith God wants for me. He may still answer prayer if I am being a brat, but I will not have that same sense of security that comes when I know I am doing what He tells me to do. In other words, my salvation does not depend on what I do, but He blesses those who listen and obey and He disciplines those who do not.

Jesus, I know it is easy to fall into thinking I can earn anything from You by obedience but that twists the purpose of Your blessings. You bless me so I can rejoice in and praise You, not so I can boast that I earned it. You want the best for me and sin cannot deliver that. Obedience can feel like being between a rock and a hard place, but You are my Rock and I know the best place to be.