The Fire of God

Jeremiah 20:9

"If I say, 'I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,' there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot."

Do you ever experience the presence and the power of God in ways like the prophet Jeremiah describes? I pray that God will work in my heart, drawing me nearer to Himself so that I have clear understanding about God's words to me and to those in the church and world around me. As God gives me confidence of His words, through the Word, I pray that God will give me grace, wisdom, faith, and boldness to proclaim those words in exactly the way He intends, to His ultimate honor and glory.

That all might sound great and spiritual, but it's actually very simple: Seek God, hear and understand His Word, obey. Simple yet hard to accomplish because of the sin that continues to dwell in us, even as believers.

Perhaps you or I have experienced God working in us and then through us to communicate life-giving truth into someone's life. It's an amazing experience! We might read Jeremiah's words and wonder what his problem was. Why would he even want to hold God's words inside? Why, if he was right with God and clearly understood God's message, wouldn't he hurry to communicate the truth? To get the answers to those questions, we need to read the rest of the passage and book of Jeremiah.

Jeremiah spent over 40 years proclaiming messages from God that nobody wanted to hear. He started out during the reign of King Josiah (a good King who is cast in favorable light) with a message from God for people to truly repent in order to avoid coming destruction. I can imagine his listeners thinking he was a bit over the top since they were, obviously, in a much better state because of all the reforms Josiah was instituting. 'Just go with this good flow! Don't get so negative on us!'

All the kings after Josiah went downhill morally, leading the kingdom of Judah into multitudes of sins. Jeremiah's message from God shifted to proclamation of God's coming judgment on Judah because of the peoples' continued rebellion against God. These folks definitely didn't want to hear Jeremiah's message. There were at least two plots to kill him along with beatings and imprisonments.

Now, we get a better understanding of why Jeremiah might have desired a break from being the bearer of bad news! Yet he kept preaching. More than that...he was incapable to stop proclaiming God's messages to the people.

When I consider some of the sorry excuses and rationalizations that lead me to put a muzzle on the truth that comes out of my mouth at times, I am ashamed. I've never once been beaten for proclaiming the truth. I've never been in prison. I've never knowingly had my life threatened. It's not threats like these that keep me from proclaiming. Instead, I keep quiet for reasons as ridiculous as finishing the next chapter in a novel.

Lord, please enliven the vibrancy of my relationship with You. Reveal to me the truth You have each day for my life and the truth You wish to convey to others through me. Help me to have the faith to believe that a broken conversation about You with a Buddhist taxi driver will bring more joy than a few pages in a mindless spy novel. Let Your fire burn so brightly in my bones that it has no option but escape through my life! Amen.