Call....

Sometimes we use the term Jeremiah to refer to a gloomy person, someone who has a darkness around them, who is always predicting disaster. Jeremiah’s story is about disaster. It’s about God’s people who had rebelled so much that the only way to bring them back into line was to send them into exile – in some ways the cosmic equivalent of sitting on the naughty step.

But Jeremiah’s story is also one of hope. It’s about redemption – because while God is about to send the Jews into Exile, he promises to bring them back, and shows Jeremiah that he is laying the groundwork to do that, even before calamity happens….

Jeremiah 1:1-7 The words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the priests at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin. [2] The word of the Lord came to him in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah, [3] and through the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, down to the fifth month of the eleventh year of Zedekiah son of Josiah king of Judah, when the people of Jerusalem went into exile.

[4] The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

[5] "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
before you were born I set you apart;
I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."

[6] "Ah, Sovereign Lord," I said, "I do not know how to speak; I am only a child."
[7] But the Lord said to me, "Do not say, 'I am only a child.' You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. [8] Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you," declares the Lord.

So God calls Jeremiah. And as usual he finds his chosen servant to be reluctant. How many excuses can we find to try and avoid God’s call on our lives? To be fair, when God called one of his prophets he is asking them to do a task which is out of the ordinary. In Jeremiah’s case he will face ridicule, accusations of treason, and danger. So maybe that’s why God showed up and spoke to him in person, to strengthen him for the task ahead. And there’s that promise, a promise that we all have, that if we are at the centre of his will for our lives he will protect us. It doesn’t mean that we will never face poverty or hardship or even danger. But by following God’s lead we will be kept eternally safe.

Maybe as God’s people we have to learn to lift our gaze heavenwards, to see things not as they are, but as they eternally will be. The problem is that too often we see security and permanence in the things of this world, and we forget that they are transitory. The tragedy of this is that when we live as if the things of this world count most then we fail to live as though the eternal truths of the Kingdom matter. Those looking at us will judge our faith as an optional extra when in fact it is 23 a non-negotiable essential for all of us. If people looking at us cannot see a people who are living in a manner which prophetically points others to the Kingdom then we are failing in our calling as citizens of the Kingdom….

And for my cell group....

Proverbs 15:29 The Lord is far from the wicked but he hears the prayer of the righteous.

I need to be righteous. I need to heed God's call on my life, to stand out from the crowd and honour him. Because when I do that I am saying no to myself and starting to live out his calling and principles in my life. And he will answer my prayers,because the more rigtheous in his sight I become, the more my will and desires are being shaped to conform to his, and the more I am asking him for help in areas that he desires to help us in. I find myself become less selfish and i see the kingdom coming more. That is why everday I need to become more and more like Jesus.