Why do people sin? The consequences of sin are terrible – we see the fallout from it all around us everyday – yet people go on sinning. This propensity to sin and error seems to baffle even God.

“This is what the Lord says: ‘When people fall down, do they not get up? When someone turns away, do they not return? Why then have these people turned away? Why does Jerusalem always turn away?’” Jeremiah 8:4-5

If anyone knows why people do self-destructive things, it should be God, but it doesn’t make sense to him either.

However, he is able to identify the source of their behavior.

“They cling to deceit; they refuse to return . . . None of them repent of their wickedness, saying, ‘What have I done?’ Each pursues his own course . . . My people do not know the requirements of the Lord. How can you say, ‘We are wise, for we have the law of the Lord,’ when the lying pen of the scribes has handled it falsely?’” Jeremiah 8:5-8

People sin because they believe lies. They dismiss the pure word of the Lord and accept deceitful interpretations of it instead. Preachers tell people what they want to hear instead of what they need to know, and people don’t study the Bible to find out whether their messages are true.

What God Actually Said Matters

In the end people are going to be judged by what God actually said, not by what they wish he had said. God expects everyone to learn the Scriptures thoroughly for themselves so they can choose the right path through life.

Jeremiah Weeps for His People

Jeremiah was an obedient servant of God who suffered for doing what God asked him to do. He was arrested and punished unjustly for telling the truth, and he complained to God about that — but what reduced him to tears was his countrymen’s hard hearts. Jeremiah believed God when he said that Judah was about to be destroyed for their sins and he was broken hearted for them.

“Since my people are crushed, I am crushed; I mourn and horror grips me . . . Oh, that my head were a spring of water and my eyes a fountain of tears! I would weep day and night for the slain of my people” Jeremiah 9:1

The prophet could see that his people weren’t going to repent of their sins and he didn’t t want to be there when disaster struck.

“Oh, that I had in the desert a lodging place for travelers, so that I might leave my people and go away from them; for they are all adulterers, a crowd of unfaithful people.” Jeremiah 9:2

Jeremiah hadn’t asked to be a prophet and he wished he could stop doing the work of a prophet. But he had a tender heart toward God and his people, so he persevered in doing what God asked of him. He believed God’s message and he believed that message was the only thing that could save people — if they listened and took it to heart.

God Commends Himself to His People

“This is what the Lord says: ‘Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches, but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,’ declares the Lord” Jeremiah 9:23-24

God revealed himself to people; he spoke to them and told them everything they needed to know for a good life. People who sought him discovered that he was kind, just and righteous; there was no need to look anywhere else for answers. A person could live a delightful life getting to know God.

“No one is like you, Lord; you are great and your name is mighty in power. Who should not fear you, King of the nations? This is your due.” Jeremiah 10:6-7

The Futility of Idolatry

God warned people not to follow the practices of idolatrous nations, and if they thought about it, it made sense. It was futile to worship something they made with their own hands.

“For the practices of the peoples are worthless; they cut a tree out of the forest, and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel. They adorn it with silver and gold; they fasten it with a hammer and nails so it will not totter. Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field, their idols cannot speak; they must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them; they can do no harm nor can they do any good . . . Tell them this: ‘These gods, who did not make the heavens and the earth, will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.” Jeremiah 10:3-5

Idols and gods from many nations can be found today in museums and antique stores. They turn up at archeological digs and are uncovered deep inside caves people lived in thousands of years ago. These gods have no power to protect their fragile carved bodies, and they do not object to being dug up or bought and sold. When they are acquired by someone they take on whatever meaning their new owner assigns to them. Idols are only a mirror of the minds of the people that believe in them.

God, the Maker of All Things

Which makes more sense: worshiping a god you made yourself or worshiping the God who made you?

“Everyone is senseless and without knowledge; every goldsmith is shamed by his idols. The images he makes are a fraud; they have no breath in them. They are worthless, the objects of mockery; when their judgment comes, they perish. He who is the Portion of Jacob is not like these, for he is the Maker of all things, including Israel, the people of his inheritance – the Lord Almighty is his name.” Jeremiah 10:14-16

The answer seems obvious, but people struggle with it everyday. They think they should be able to direct their own steps so they make up gods who agree with them, but Jeremiah saw things differently.

“Lord, I know that people’s lives are not their own; it is not for them to direct their steps. Discipline me, Lord, but only in due measure – not in your anger, or you will reduce me to nothing. Pour out your wrath on the nations that do not acknowledge you, on the peoples who do not call on your name.” Jeremiah 10:23-25

People sin because they believe their lives are their own. They want to go their own way and not be accountable to God – but everyone is accountable to God. In the end even the gods they made for themselves will perish when God judges the earth (Jeremiah 10:15).

Why do people sin? Because they are willful and foolish and choose to believe lies. The end of it all is tears and regret, as Jeremiah the prophet could attest.