"He Will Come Through For You"

Jeremiah 26:1-16
This message came to Jeremiah from the Lord early in the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah. The Lord said, "Stand out in front of the Temple of the Lord, and make an announcement to the people who have come there to worship from all over Judah. Give them my entire message; include every word. Perhaps they will listen and turn from their evil ways. Then I will be able to withhold the disaster I am ready to pour out on them because of their sins. "Say to them, `This is what the Lord says: If you will not listen to me and obey the law I have given you, and if you will not listen to my servants, the prophets-for I sent them again and again to warn you, but you would not listen to them- then I will destroy this Temple as I destroyed Shiloh, the place where the Tabernacle was located. And I will make Jerusalem an object of cursing in every nation on earth.' " The priests, the prophets, and all the people listened to Jeremiah as he spoke in front of the Lord's Temple. But when Jeremiah had finished his message, saying everything the Lord had told him to say, the priests and prophets and all the people at the Temple mobbed him. "Kill him!" they shouted. "What right do you have to prophesy in the Lord's name that this Temple will be destroyed like Shiloh? What do you mean, saying that Jerusalem will be destroyed?" And all the people threatened him as he stood in front of the Temple. When the officials of Judah heard what was happening, they rushed over from the palace and sat down at the New Gate of the Temple to hold court. The priests and prophets presented their accusations to the officials and the people. "This man should die!" they said. "You have heard with your own ears what a traitor he is, for he has prophesied against this city." Then Jeremiah spoke in his own defense. "The Lord sent me to prophesy against this Temple and this city," he said. "The Lord gave me every word that I have spoken. But if you stop your sinning and begin to obey the Lord your God, he will cancel this disaster that he has announced against you. As for me, I am helpless and in your power-do with me as you think best. But if you kill me, rest assured that you will be killing an innocent man! The responsibility for such a deed will lie on you, on this city, and on every person living in it. For it is absolutely true that the Lord sent me to speak every word you have heard." Then the officials and the people said to the priests and prophets, "This man does not deserve the death sentence, for he has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God."

So just as Jeremiah, we are often facing with the choice to do what God tells us or to do what we want to do. Jeremiah had to know that the people would turn against him. But he did it anyway. He went and done what the Lord told him to do. As I was reading this I couldn’t help but to think how we are faced with an important choice. The Lord may lead us to go somewhere and tell the good news. We may sometimes be afraid that we will be laughed at, or people won’t want to hang out with us anymore because of our decision to follow Christ. But it doesn’t matter what people say about us, it doesn’t mater if they laugh at us! Just as long as we are right with God, if we are doing what the Lord tells us to do we will be okay. When we die and face God, our “friends” won’t be there to laugh at us; they won’t be there to mock us. Our parents won’t be there to defend us. It will just be us and God. No matter what may happen to us on this earth, we need to let our lights shine so that the non-believers will see that there is a God. So Jeremiah went out that day knowing that the people would most likely turn against him. Knowing that they would want to kill him. But he did it anyway. He trusted in the Lord. Even when he was in court and the priests and prophets were saying he should die, he still didn’t apologize. He could have said that he was sorry; he could have bowed down to the priests and prophets. But he didn’t. He knew that the Lord was with him. After Jeremiah spoke in his own defense, the priests and the prophets said “This man does not deserve the death sentence, for he has spoken to us in the name of the LORD our God.” I’m sure that Jeremiah had all kinds of thought going through his head, I’m sure he was worried, but he knew that he had done what God wanted him to do. So just like this, we may be doing what God wants us to do. We may find ourselves being laughed at, being mocked. But just as Jeremiah stood up for what he believed in, we need to stand up for what we believe and know is true. Just as the Lord came through for Jeremiah, he can and will come through for us!!!