Sin Destroys Everything – Jer 13
Sin promises everything. Instead it destroys everything and leaves nothing.
God illustrates this with a linen girdle (belt/sash). He tells Jeremiah to wear the girdle or belt for a while, keep it nice, and then take it to a hole in the rock. Many days later, when he retrieves it, it is destroyed.
God tells Israel that that is what sin has done to them. Once they were special to Him and made glorious by their connection with Him. Now that they have left Him, they are marred and good for nothing.
If only we could understand that this is what happens when we disobey the Lord, refuse to hear His words, walk in the imagination of our own hearts, and serve other gods.
God gives us our identity, dignity and purpose. Sin robs us of all of that and leaves us with nothing.