The Power Hour...

During my lunches lately, I've been reading through Jeremiah. There was no particular reason I picked Jeremiah except for the "fire in my bones" line. That's a good one.

What a depressing book! It's all about how horrible and awful God's people were. He compares them to prostitutes, old rags, donkeys, mother deer who abandon their young, and much more. Apparently, they weren't doing a whole lot right. So God picks this young man, Jeremiah, to speak to them. Everywhere he goes, all he gets is resistance. All his efforts are futile. He's real discouraged and a little scared, and then God says this to him,

“If you return to me, I will restore you
so you can continue to serve me.
If you speak good words rather than worthless ones,
you will be my spokesman.
You must influence them;
do not let them influence you!
They will fight against you like an attacking army,
but I will make you as secure as a fortified wall of bronze.
They will not conquer you,
for I am with you to protect and rescue you.
I, the Lord, have spoken!"
(Jeremiah 15:19,20 NLT)
First of all, I like how God ends his communication. It's a little more powerful then, "Seacrest out!" The NIV starts with, "If you repent..." Now, Jeremiah wasn't necessarily doing anything wrong, but God was always wanting to draw his people to himself. This must always begin with humbly confessing what it is that draws us away.

He encourages Jeremiah to influence the culture without letting the culture influence him. For 5000 years that has been the cry of God. In the world but not of it. Redeeming culture through our participation in it, not our abstintion.

I'm not the greatest theologian, and sometimes when I read my Bible, it's more like quantity instead of quality. But today, I couldn't get away from this verse. I'm not sure why, maybe because it scared me.

Dear God, may our words be useful and not worthless.

Amen.