MEDITATIONS FROM JEREMIAH

 

January 2 , 2008

Reading:  Jeremiah 1:4-10

 

"Before I formed you in the womb … I ordained you a prophet” Jeremiah 1:5

 

This is a most wonderful statement from God for in it He declares His sovereignty, His omniscience and omnipotence. The great Creator states emphatically that Jeremiah’s birth was not an accident neither was it only the desire of his mother and father. It is God who forms us in the womb with the same omnipotence by which Jesus was conceived in the womb of Mary. It was by the Holy Spirit that Mary conceived because the birth of Jesus required a special act of God.

 Never before had God been born as a man. God “became flesh and dwelt among us” John 1:14. There are scriptures speaking of God removing us from the womb of our mother - Psalm 71:6 - but here God is credited with conception. From the realm of eternity God knew Jeremiah and set him apart for the ministry of a prophet. Not only did He set Him apart (sanctify) but He ordained him to be a prophet. The word ‘ordained’ is ‘nathan’  meaning to ‘put or ‘make’. It is a word with a very wide range of application and there is little doubt of its meaning here. The meaning or application of a word is greatly enhanced by the context of its usage. That should go without saying but it is amazing how often the context is ignored. Whatever it was that God planned for Jeremiah, He formed Him and set him aside for that purpose. His plan for Jeremiah was not the obvious, that of a priest, but as a prophet to the nations.

God has a plan and purpose for each of His children, one for which was set aside in the counsels of eternity. There is no greater happiness than to live a life fulfilling that purpose for which God has brought us into the world. Paul knew well his calling,

 

“Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God” Romans 1:1.

 

 He lived his calling,

 

“For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son” Romans 1:9,

 

 a calling in which he was not ashamed,

 

 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God” Romans 1:16.

 

 God has raised up men to specific callings in the church,

 

“And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ” Ephesians 4:11-12.

 

 It is a requisite of our calling that we know for what purpose God has placed us on earth. Each one has been given gifts from God, not as an afterthought once we were born, but before God formed us in the womb. Each one of God’s children has been given a gift(s) from God and it is our responsibility to determine what that gift may be (if it is not obvious) and use it toward the advancement of His kingdom, “each one has his own gift from God, one in this manner and another in that” 1 Corinthians 7:7. We are all members of His body and none of it’s members should be paralyzed.

 

“Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” Philippians 2:12.