Think life is tough trying to be a Christian? Just how resolved are we to stay on that path set before us by the Lord? How often do we complain when things just don't go our way?
I'm not sure how well I would handle the ministry laid out before Jeremiah. Wrapping up this book this week, and today, reading through chapters 39-44, here is a quick snapshot of Jeremiah's life and ministry leading up to and just beyond Jerusalem's destruction.
He is thrown into a cistern when the leaders are tired of hearing him rebuke, warn, and teach.
Zedekiah brings him out and asks about his future and his family's future. Jeremiah tells him the truth, that if he goes out to the officers of Babylon, he and they will live and be unharmed. He swears Jeremiah to secrecy, and keeps him locked up in a guardhouse. Naturally, Zedekiah ignores Jeremiah's words, and when Babylon breaches the walls, Zedekiah's sons are killed, his eyes taken, and he is bound, taken to Babylon.
Jeremiah is spared, on Nebuchadnezzar's orders, with the option of going to Babylon and being cared for, or remaining behind in Judah, or really, to go where he pleases. He stays.
He warns those thinking about fleeing to Egypt not to do so. Think about this, EVERYTHING he has prophesied up to this point has been accurate to a "T". Again, he is ignored, people flee, and Jeremiah must go there and prophesy that they will die there, that Babylon will also take Egypt.
No wonder Jeremiah was not well liked! But he was with the Lord, and he was right! Take a moment and read some of Lamentations, Jeremiah's mournful dirge as he watches Jerusalem crumble, God's people justly punished. Was Jeremiah effective? Well, we don't see converts, but we see a faithful man and his obedience.
He was right, and he cared! What a great combination for ministry. What had God asked us to do in our own personal ministries? Share Christ with others? That's one, but let's focus on that one for a moment. But it's hard, right? We must speak the truth, and do so while caring for the plight of the lost. Truth is great, being right is even better! Caring for others means we actually understand God and His truth. Truth without caring shows up as arrogance. Caring without the truth shows up as foolishness.
Praying today for a Godly balance in our personal ministry. Though we live in tough times, we have great examples before us, Jeremiah for one.
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