Reflections on Jeremiah 1

Jeremiah 01 (Contemporary English Version)
1. My name is Jeremiah. I am a priest, and my father Hilkiah and everyone else in my family are from Anathoth in the territory of the Benjamin tribe. This book contains the things that the LORD told me to say.
   
2. The LORD first spoke to me in the thirteenth year that Josiah was king of Judah,
   
3. and he continued to speak to me during the rule of Josiah's son Jehoiakim. The last time the LORD spoke to me was in the fifth month of the eleventh year that Josiah's son Zedekiah was king. That was also when the people of Jerusalem were taken away as prisoners.
   
4. The LORD said:
   
5. "Jeremiah, I am your Creator, and before you were born, I chose you to speak for me to the nations."
   
6. I replied, "I'm not a good speaker, LORD, and I'm too young."
   
7. "Don't say you're too young," the LORD answered. "If I tell you to go and speak to someone, then go! And when I tell you what to say, don't leave out a word!
   
8. I promise to be with you and keep you safe, so don't be afraid."
   
9. The LORD reached out his hand, then he touched my mouth and said, "I am giving you the words to say,
   
10. and I am sending you with authority to speak to the nations for me. You will tell them of doom and destruction, and of rising and rebuilding again."
    
11. The LORD showed me something in a vision. Then he asked, "What do you see, Jeremiah?" I answered, "A branch of almonds that ripen early."
    
12. "That's right," the LORD replied, "and I always rise early to keep a promise."
    
13. Then the LORD showed me something else and asked, "What do you see now?" I answered, "I see a pot of boiling water in the north, and it's about to spill out toward us."
    
14. The LORD said: I will pour out destruction all over the land.
    
15. Just watch while I send for the kings of the north. They will attack and capture Jerusalem and other towns, then set up their thrones at the gates of Jerusalem.
    
16. I will punish my people, because they are guilty of turning from me to worship idols.
    
17. Jeremiah, get ready! Go and tell the people what I command you to say. Don't be frightened by them, or I will make you terrified while they watch.
    
18. My power will make you strong like a fortress or a column of iron or a wall of bronze. You will oppose all of Judah, including its kings and leaders, its priests and people.
    
19. They will fight back, but they won't win. I, the LORD, give my word-- I won't let them harm you.

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This first chapter of Jeremiah contains the prophet's call from God to take God's message to the nation of Judah. I see in his call truths that I believe apply to God's relationship and call to any individual and not only applicable to Jeremiah. One is God's purpose for Jeremiah which was determined before the prophet was even conceived by his parents. I believe God has a purpose for every life which He has determined before conception. We have a choice not to acknowledge His purpose in our lives, though, thus aborting His purpose for us. This truth gives cause for any who see God as being impersonal and unconcerned about our individual situations to reconsider this perspective. God is very involved in the life of every individual who will allow that involvement.

There also cause in this revelation to rethink our perspective on abortion if, indeed, we have no problem with aborting a fetus thinking that in its early stages, at least, a fetus is not yet a viable form of life. Whether in reference to Jeremiah or anyone else, God has a purpose for every life, and that purpose is aborted along with the fetus when the choice is made to terminate a pregnancy. Speaking for myself, I don't wish to intervene in God's intended purpose for any life over a matter of personal preference or convenience in regard to an unwanted pregnancy, which is the motivation in the majority of abortions.

Another element of Jeremiah's call that I think is not isolated to Jeremiah is God's promise to make him able for the task he is given and to protect him in carrying out that task. Most of us would probably respond as did Jeremiah, saying that the task is beyond our capabilities. If we should think otherwise, we are probably not ready for the task. None of us are capable for the task to which God calls us. Only God can make us capable, and we will be destined to failure should we attempt to do it using only the capabilities we have.

A final factor I see in Jeremiah's call is a reminder that the assignment was to accomplish God's purpose, not Jeremiah's. As much as Jeremiah may have wished for his nation to avert disaster, his assignment to try to avert certain disaster for Judah was a fulfillment of God's purpose. Therefore, the conduct of that assignment must be according to God's direction and not according to any strategies Jeremiah might devise. In fact, God's enabling and protection for the task were dependent on conducting it as God directed. Otherwise Jeremiah was on his own. If he wished to do it on his own, God would leave him on his own.