Jeremiah 23:5-8
Other than Jesus, the person I respect more than any other in all of history is Jeremiah. No one else comes close. God chose this man to deliver a message that no one wanted to hear, and for decades Jeremiah’s ministry caused him pain. His prophecy declared that Israel was going to be captured and in captivity for 70 years. He was thrown into prison for the message, then blamed when the message came true. He was depressed and cried a lot, but he never quit. He wanted to, but the message burned so much in him that quitting was always second to moving forward.
Jeremiah truly served God for what seemed to be nothing. If I have an ounce of grit in ministry, it comes from desiring the heart of Jeremiah. Not that he was a macho beefcake. No, he was just faithful, tough, and able to take a beating for the cause of Christ, simply because the message was bigger than the man. God’s will was bigger than Jeremiah. One of the ingredients of a follower of Christ is a sense of belonging to something greater than yourself. It gives a backbone, stability, and courage.
The message was not all bad though. Surrounding this passage, God declares that disobedience brings suffering. But these verses give hope and scream, “Deliverance is coming!”. Listen, the world is not always going to be bad. Sickness and death are not always going to consume us. In the midst of pain, deliverance is in sight.
Jeremiah is the longest book in the Bible in content, but with a simple message.
- God is Sovereign Lord
- Disobedience brings suffering
- Deliverance is available in Christ