Scripture:Jeremiah 1:11-19

“Get up and prepare for action. Go out and tell them everything I tell you to say. Do not be afraid of them, or I will make you look foolish in front of them. For see, today I have made you strong. . .” (Jeremiah 1:17-18a, NLT). 

Observation:

Having received his call, Jeremiah now receives his commission to proclaim God’s message. Yet God begins by asking Jeremiah, “What do you see?” Jeremiah’s people were in a bad way; even their religious leaders no longer “saw” the value of God’s law. Jeremiah “sees” in the almond branch (v.11) that he was ready to bear fruit and that his nation was ripe for disaster. God would carry out both his plan to punish his people’s sin (v.12-16) and to warn them through Jeremiah (v.17-19).

Application:

God wants me to be “prepared for action.” Because he equips me with his unconquerable strength, I have no reason to fear proclaiming his Good News. In fact, fear makes me look “foolish” because the Good News is that we have overcome through Christ. “If God is for us, who can ever be against us?” (Romans 8:31, NLT).

Prayer:

Father, make me strong. Prepare me for action. Direct me to those who need to hear the Good News of your Son. Take away my fear of being embarrassed or inadequate. Grant me your grace to go from strength to Strength. In Jesus’ name, Amen.