Jeremiah 1

Chapter I The Calling

In Jer 1:5 we find a very familiar verse and one that has been used to defend the life of an unborn baby…or as the pro-death side would say a “fetus”. God lives outside of time and space and is not bound by either since He created them. We sometimes forget the size of our God and limit Him to a super powerful type of human…that is a mistake. Time and space are relative but our God reigns now and forever more. So in verse 5 we see that Jeremiah was chosen, set apart and appointed to be a prophet.

But Jeremiah rejects the call of God and blames it on his youth and his inability to speak for God. Now in many of our views of God we would have Him striking Jeremiah down with lightning for disobeying or questioning what God would proclaim…but that is not our God. In fact in Jer 1:7 we see God building him up not in Jeremiah’s ability but in God’s ability and in Jer 1:8 we see the beautiful promise that Jeremiah receives “I will be with you”…and if God is with us what else would we need?

Notice in Jer 1:9-10 the tenses of the verbs…I have filled, it is done now live by faith and take God at His Word. He also says I have set you…God has set him over nations what does he have to fear? Nothing as long as his eyes are upon the Lord and he walks believing the truth of what God has already done.

In Jer 1:11-15 we see that God is telling Jeremiah what will take place and how His word will accomplish what He desires it to accomplish because God is watching over it. We are to be faithful and God will accomplish what He will as we follow His leading. It is a great promise we can take on ourselves right now…God loves us, watches over us and will accomplish all He wills in our lives so it is not up to us “TO MAKE THINGS HAPPEN”.

In Jer 1:16 God knows all the evils ever done and each one will give an account. It is a very scary thing for people outside of Christ…God will judge them for every evil thing done in thought, word and deed. Although it may seem today that evil doesn’t get judged and even flourishes (the old proverb of no good deed goes unpunished is apropos) yet God knows and not one thing will escape His omniscient eye.

And finally in Jer 1:17-19 we see the final words to Jeremiah about this calling from God. It is a sobering call, God will do incredible things through Jeremiah so He wants him to be fully consecrated to do God’s will. And God is so generous to tell him the humiliation he will endure if he is not obedient to God’s will. Jeremiah is Gods ambassador and must stand in the gap as the man of God yet again we see the gentleness of God to tell Jeremiah what He has already done in him…Jeremiah would have no ability on his own and would have to be as far from self-sufficient as he could be because he needed his sufficiency to be in God alone. And again God says…I am with you and what more do we need then that?

God is with each of us that are in Christ…what more do we need then that? Get rid of all the junk that hinders all the good that God wants to do through you and you will find that more of Him is more then sufficient. I love what Paul said…2Co 3:5 Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God,