Today’s Reading: Jeremiah 1:1-12, Psalm 139
Jonah, Amos, Micah, Nahum, Zephaniah, and Habakkuk. God used the faithful obedience of these prophets to make a difference in the lives of His people and their leaders. The obedience of each of these believers had an impact on the king and, in turn, on the entire nation. God called another man to make an impact on His people; he called a young man named Jeremiah.
I KNEW YOU BEFORE I FORMED YOU.
“I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb.
Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.”
“O Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I can’t speak for you! I’m too young!”
The Lord replied, “Don’t say, ‘I’m too young,’ for you must go wherever I send you and say whatever I tell you. And don’t be afraid of the people, for I will be with you and will protect you. I, the Lord, have spoken!” Then the Lord reached out and touched my mouth and said,
“Look, I have put my words in your mouth!
Today I appoint you to stand up against nations and kingdoms.
Some you must uproot and tear down, destroy and overthrow.
Others you must build up and plant.”
Then the Lord said to me, “Look, Jeremiah! What do you see?”
And I replied, “I see a branch from an almond tree.”
And the Lord said, “That’s right, and it means that I am watching, and I will certainly carry out my plans.” – Jeremiah 1:5-12
I AM WATCHING OVER YOU.
The almond tree branches were among the first to blossom each spring. What the people of Judah were experiencing was only the beginning of all that was about to happen. And in the midst of this turmoil, God had plans to use a young man named Jeremiah to get His message to His people.
Jeremiah felt young and ill-equipped for what God was calling him to do. God confirmed His call on Jeremiah’s life and promised that He would watch over Jeremiah; he would give him the words to say and the credibility to be heard.
Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. – 1 Timothy 4:12
Paul’s words to his young intern, Timothy, are similar to God’s words of encouragement to Jeremiah. These same words can fill our hearts with the assurance that God has created us for a purpose and He will equip us for the call. He is in control and desires to carry out His plans through us. He has been active in our life since conception, beautifully forming us into the child of God He created us to be. He knows everything about us, yet chooses to use us to carry out His perfect plan, regardless of our age, gender or education. Let’s recognize God’s hand on our life as we pray the words of the psalmist:
For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand—
when I awake, I am still with you. — Psalm 139:13-18