The policeman takes a
sip of his coffee.
Just as the cup
touches his lips, his radio emits a high pitched ringtone.
He raises the
radio/phone to his ear.
I can't hear what he
is saying, but he immediately stands up, leaves his coffee on the table and
leaves quickly.
He is responding to a
call.
Something needs
dealing with.
And his action is
needed.
I watch this.
And.
As it happens I am
reading Jeremiah 1.
In fact I am studying
it for a couple of talks I have to do after Christmas.
I have also read a
resume of the life of Jeremiah, this morning in the same coffee shop the
policeman sat in just a few minutes ago.
It's funny really.
Jeremiah gets a call
too.
A call to be a prophet
to the Nations.
A call direct from God
himself.
He doesn’t really
respond like the policeman did.
His human side kicks
in.
"I do not know
how to speak, and I am too young."
That’s Jeremiah's
initial response.
Sounds like a couple
of really lame excuses to me.
Someone once said to
me, "The first thing that drops into your head is usually God, the second
thing is usually you."
You see this in action here in Jeremiahs response to a calling from God.
I was reflecting on my
own calling into ministry.
God literally and
supernaturally had to pin me to the seat to get me to listen to him!
When I heard the words in my thoughts, "Gary I want you to be a Salvation Army Officer," My immediate response was, "Please God no." Quickly followed by a deluge of other thoughts came into my head, Amongst them were things like, "I will have to give up my career, my car, my season ticket at Anfield!" "Please God no."
The lameness of my
initial response, resonated with Jeremiah thousands of years after he had
encountered a calling.
But.
The thing is.
God spoke a zinger of
a promise to Jeremiah.
"You must go to
everyone I send you too and say whatever I command you to say. Do not be afraid
of them, for I am with you and will rescue you, declares the Lord."
It's funny.
I felt that sane
language hit my heart and I knew I had to respond.
Immediately.
Like Jeremiah, I
didn’t have a clue why he would choose me, the clueless, fly by night person
that I was back then, who had spent most of my life as a Church going
unbeliever who lived with an indifferent attitude to anything remotely
spiritual.
But.
The call was real.
So I responded.
Jeremiah as a prophet,
kept close to God from that point on. Listening to God, seeing the pictures God
gave him. Keeping a conversation going relentlessly.
A total friendship.
A total relationship.
His remit was to speak
to Nations, Kingdoms, to uproot, tear down, destroy and overthrow, to build and
to plant.
Destroy what?
Well I think pretty
much anything that got in the way of people knowing God.
And to build and plant
what?
Anything that advances
the Kingdom of God in this world.
That is a prophets
remit in a nutshell I think.
It doesn’t make us
popular really.
In fact Jeremiah was
thrown down a cistern, a hole in the ground for it.
I know a few people
who would like to do that with me! (Thankfully not the wife! I hope anyway!)
But.
Nevertheless.
Answering the call for
Jeremiah meant that God used him to pave the way for massive reform in his
time.
I don’t believe it is
any different for us today.
God desperately needs
people to hear his call.
More than that he
needs them to answer his call.
I still miss my season
ticket.
But the things God has
shown me, the lives changed and healed, the great changes in my own character
and life, the blessings, the miracles, the trials, the joys, the challenges.
More than makes up for
that.
Never a dull moment!
Why do I write this
today.
As I watched the
policeman respond to his call on the radio. A call to action. I had a picture
of people sitting at work or at home today, thousands of them, struggling with
responding to His call.
Maybe.
Someone reading this
blog post today.
Is doing the same?
The Spirit of God says
to you. "Let go, of the struggle. Drop the lame excuses. I truly need you.
Despite what you think about yourself, or despite what you think others feel
about you, I am calling you. Calling you to Speak to nations and kingdoms,
calling you to uproot ad tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to
plant."
If you hear this call
then take a leaf out of the policeman I saw this morning's book.
Respond immediately.
Respond despite your
fears and your excuses.
I finish with a few
more words from Jeremiah 4.
It's God speaking.
"Get yourself
ready! Stand up and say to them whatever I command you to say. Do not be
terrified by them or I will terrify you before them. Today I have made you a
fortified city, an iron pillar, and a bronze wall to stand against the whole
land. Against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests and the people of
the land. They will fight against you but will not overcome you. For I am with
you and will rescue you says the Lord."
So if this is for you
today.
If God is calling you
to be a prophet?
If he is calling you
to ministry?
If he is calling you
to take action of some kind?
Then.
What are you waiting
for?
Blessings today guys
