Scroll down to see and play Audio.
Good morning my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
I have a question for all of us. Could this statement, found in Jeremiah 1:5, apply to you and me: “The word of the LORD came to me saying: ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you to be a prophet…” (Jeremiah 1:5)
I carry in my Bible, copies of the ultrasound pictures which were taken of our daughter April’s womb, when she was pregnant with each of our 5 grandchildren. We’ve just returned from visiting them in Africa for several days. Oh it was special and I am amazed as I look at who those grandgirls are becoming, in fact who our daughter April, now a wife and mother has become… and I call us to consider these very personal but important questions:
1. While God was shaping and forming you in your mother’s womb, was there a specific design in the mind of God for WHO you would be…at this stage of your life?
2. As God put a living soul in you while you were still a fetus, did God choose your personality to fit the role or purpose which He had in mind for you, when you joined the human population in your generation?
3. Are there reasons God conceived and birthed you in the year you were born, and not 100 years earlier or 50 years later?
I’m excited to wrestle with these powerful questions today as you and I ‘walk with Jesus’, looking at Jeremiah chapter 1. Yesterday we saw in 2 Chronicles 35:25 that when the beloved king Josiah died in battle, Jeremiah composed ‘laments’ or songs of honor for Josiah which “…became a tradition in Israel…”. Who is this man Jeremiah, where did he come from, and why was he so respected that his ‘laments’ became ‘tradition’ in Israel at such a strategic moment in history?
Today, look with me at Jeremiah 1. Jeremiah was the son of a priest named Hilkiah and he received his calling from God in the 13th year of Josiah’s reign, which was 627bc. You’ll recall a few days ago we looked at Isaiah chapter 6 and how God called Isaiah to be His prophet in the year that king Uzziah died, (740bc). Isaiah then became very significant in the life and leadership of one specific king, Hezekiah, remember? And now 113 yrs later, a young man Jeremiah receives his God calling and becomes God’s significant spokesman in the life of king Josiah, but also the remaining kings of Judah, and the people, over the subsequent 40 years or so. Have you noticed something… in every generation, God raises up specific people for important roles in their generation. So what is God thinking as He looks at you and me this December?
If you’d like to join me in placing Jeremiah chronologically in the story, he fits in 2 Chronicles 34 between verse 7 & 8. It’s a strategic moment, for young king Josiah is 21 years old and has been receiving intensive leadership training since his sudden elevation to the throne at age 8, when his father was assassinated. It appears Jeremiah joined king Josiah’s advisors and the messages Jeremiah gave king Josiah are from God, and they spur the young king to lead a nationwide reformation and revival over the next several years. The other day we learned it was Josiah’s attitudes and the moral/spiritual reformation work which saved Jerusalem and that generation of people from God’s judgment! (2 Chron. 34:27,28)
Now ponder the significance and strategicness of that for a moment. Could it be YOU are alive on this planet, in this generation, with just as much intentionality in God’s plans and purposes? Is it possible, in this crazy time of global Coronavirus frenzy and US election chaos, that God will guide you to be strategic in your extended family, your church, your social or business network, your community, or even more?
When we combine Jeremiah 1:5 with Psalm 139 and other Scriptures, the answer to my opening questions is YES! Each person exists because God DESIRES that they exist, thus HE conceives each person WHEN in history God wants them to BE. Each person exists according to a DESIGN that God had in His mind when He was shaping and forming us in our mother’s womb.
Each person exists with POTENTIAL for living a life of purpose, especially as you and I become the person God has designed us to be and when we trust Jesus Christ to be our Savior and we become a ‘new creation in Christ’, fully yielded to the leading of the Holy Spirit in our lives and we ‘walk with Jesus’ everyday. THEN God can involve us in His global purposes as He has designed us!
Now pause right here for a moment and ponder the strategic significance of that for you and me, regardless of our age, our gender, our marital status, our education or ethnicity, our geographical location, vocational expertise or employment status!! Are you ready TODAY, this week, the rest of December, and the new year ahead of us, 2021… to BE strategic in the plans and work of God on planet earth?
The Bible is filled with the stories of people who have had this experience. Normal people, just like you and me. But do you remember God’s call and commission of Moses in Exodus 3? Do you remember Moses bringing this message from God to Pharaoh: “I have raised you up for this very purpose: that I might show you MY power and that MY name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” (Ex. 9:16)
Is this true of you my friend? I challenge all of us today to realize the intentionality with which God made us! God designed the Redemption plan requiring the death & resurrection of Jesus; God transforms us from sin slaves to Ambassadors of Jesus when we are “born again” (regenerated by the Holy Spirit) and indwelt by the Spirit of God; and then how strategic each of us can be as led by God to fulfill His purposes in our world!
Are you developing the ability to discern God’s leading in your life and are you committed to following Him obediently? Is God using you to BE and DO what HE has in HIS mind for you in this very unusual time in history?
Unlike Isaiah, we don’t know exactly where or in what situation Jeremiah had his life changing encounter with God in which he received his calling and his commissioning, but do you notice how similar Jeremiah 1 & Isaiah 6 are? “You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them for I am with you and will rescue you,’ declares the LORD.” (Jer. 1:7) That my friends is what Paul meant when he wrote “We are therefore Ambassadors of Jesus Christ, as though God is making His appeal through us.” (2 Cor. 5:20)
You and I are intended to be God’s representatives to our crazy, God rejecting world! I invite us to park right here and really ponder this important, far-reaching truth today. What are the implications for you and me and every place where God has given us influence this December?
I urge you to pick up your journal, take pen in hand and begin listing all the relationship groups you are a part of… neighbors, work, school, social groups, church, extended family etc. Then ask God to help you see what God is wanting to accomplish in each of those groups through the influence HE can make there through YOU!! Write what God tells you… it may be very similar to what He told Jeremiah!!
Now what I’m suggesting is a powerful experience with God. Moses had it, Isaiah had it, Abraham had it, Jeremiah had it. Is there any reason you and I can’t? Here’s a song to ponder while you wait on God, seeking to hear His voice in giving you fresh insight into your potential, in His purposes. . . it’s titled “I will wait for YOU” based on Psalm 130:
Click to read today’s chapter: Jeremiah 1. (At the top you can choose a different translation.)
NEW FEATURE: Click here to listen to a dramatized reading of Jeremiah 1.
 |  |
Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
Archived back issues of “Walking with Jesus” and other resources are available by clicking here to open our ‘home page’ (or go to HOME at upper right of this page).
Share with friends. Subscribe below for daily “Walking with Jesus”.