40 Weeks of Your Life: Jeremiah
09-30-2006
by Vicky Beeching

Jeremiah was a Priest from an area called "Ananoth" in "the land of Benjamin". He lived in Judea just before the siege of Jerusalem where the city and temple were destroyed by the King of Babylon. Jeremiah was a prophet who heard from God that these events would happen - and he heard these things a quarter century before the events took place! It's a faith-builder to remember that God knows everything in the present and future. He knows every detail and is in control!

The book shows Jeremiah in a very honest light. It shows his struggles with the role he's been called in to, and how God encouraged him to rise and up be strong. It's a wonderful reminder to us that whatever God has called us to. It's OK to feel inadequate and overwhelmed. None of us can do anything in our own strength, so it's a good thing to feel very reliant on the grace of God.

Jeremiah is a book jammed full of emotion. He is known as 'the weeping prophet' because of the heartbreak and tears that flow from hearing God's words of judgment on Israel. He encourages me to ask God to keep my heart soft and sensitive… I want to be someone who feels deeply what God feels and shares His heart like Jeremiah did.

One of the things that stand out about the Old Testament prophets is their use of drama and action in delivering God's words. Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Isaiah and their fellow prophets did all kinds of symbolic acts to communicate God's message. It's true that a picture is worth a thousand words. When Jeremiah walked around the streets with a farmer's yolk around his neck, it would have attracted way more attention than just speaking about the concept. I see that as an encouragement to step out of our comfort zone - to do whatever it takes to gets God's words out there. Sometimes I get shy about speaking God's word boldly. Jeremiah reminds us to go for it!