**Jeremiah 4:22** — *"For My people are fools; they have not known Me. They are foolish children, without understanding. They are skilled in doing evil, but they know not how to do good."*

This is not a rebuke from a distant judge — it is a grief-stricken Father speaking over children who have memorized religion while remaining strangers to the God behind it.

Notice the precision of the indictment: *skilled* in evil, yet unable to do good. Skill requires practice. Israel had rehearsed rebellion so long it became instinct. Covenant knowledge — *yada*, the deep relational knowing — had been replaced by ritual familiarity.

Scripture reminds us that knowing *about* God and knowing God are separated by the distance of a surrendered will.

Walk with that today. Consider the difference between the God you profess and the God you actually dwell with in the quiet hours.

Let the grief in this verse be mercy — because only a Shepherd who still calls His sheep *His people* is a Shepherd worth returning to.