July 13, 2024 - Jeremiah 1-2

“The words of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, one of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, to whom the word of the Lord came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign . . . Now the word of the Lord came to me” (1:-2,4).  Just a teenager (likely) hanging out with the guys, taking a swim at the beach, grabbing a burger and fries, and doing all the things teenagers do.  Then, “the word of the Lord came to me,” Jeremiah testifies, and nothing would ever again be the same.  From his own words, we know that Jeremiah had a sense of what was coming:  “Then I said, Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.’  But the Lord said to me, ‘Do not say, I am only a youth; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak.  Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the Lord” (1:6-8).  And so, with this assurance of God’s presence and protection, Jeremiah obeys.  He could have sung these worshipers:

I’m goin'a sing when the Spirit says sing,

I'm goin'a sing when the Spirit says sing,

I'm goin'a sing when the Spirit says sing,

and obey the Spirit of the Lord.

I'm goin'a pray when the Spirit says pray . . .

I'm goin'a moan when the Spirit says moan . . .

4 I'm goin'a shout when the Spirit says shout . . .  –Anonymous (1955)