May the mumbling commence!
When we faithfully do the work of the Lord, the Lord is
our hiding place. Though life is fragile
and threatened, God is our hiding place.
It was true for Jeremiah. It will
be true for us. Read from Jeremiah
chapter thirty-six:
By the time Baruch had finished reading, they were badly frightened. "We must tell the king what we have heard,"
they said. "But first, tell us how you got these messages. Did they
come directly from Jeremiah?"
So Baruch explained, "Jeremiah
dictated them to me word by word, and I
wrote down his words with ink on this scroll."
"You and Jeremiah should both hide," the officials told Baruch. "Don't tell anyone where you are!" Then the officials left the scroll for
safekeeping in the room of Elishama the secretary and went to tell the
king.
The king sent Jehudi to get the scroll. Jehudi brought it
from Elishama's room and read it to the king as all his officials stood
by. It was late autumn, and the king was
in a winterized part of the palace, sitting in front of a fire to keep
warm.
Whenever Jehudi finished reading three or
four columns, the king took his knife
and cut off that section of the scroll. He then threw it into the fire, section
by section, until the whole scroll was burned up. Neither the king nor his officials showed any
signs of fear or repentance at what they heard. Even when
Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah begged the king not to burn the scroll, he wouldn't listen.
Then the king commanded his son Jerahmeel,
Seraiah son of Azriel, and Shelemiah son of Abdeel to arrest Baruch and Jeremiah. But the Lord
had hidden them. (Verses 16-26)
The Lord hid Jeremiah and Baruch. The Lord hid them from the wrath and fury of
a king who would not listen. The Lord
hid them to protect them because they were doing God’s work. Jeremiah and Baruch did the Lord’s work
despite mortal danger.
They held onto their lives loosely as they followed the
Word of the Lord. That is exactly what
Jesus call all his disciples to do. Read
from Matthew chapter sixteen:
Then Jesus said to the disciples, "If any of you wants to be my follower,
you must put
aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross, and follow me. If you try to keep your life for yourself, you will lose
it. But if you give up your life for me, you will find true
life. And how do you benefit if you gain the
whole world but lose your own soul in the process? Is anything
worth more than your soul? For I, the Son
of Man, will come in the glory of my Father with his angels and will judge all
people according to their deeds. And I
assure you that some of you standing here right now will not die before you see
me, the Son of Man, coming in my Kingdom." (Verses 24-28)
Follow Jesus.
Follow the leading of the Holy Spirit in your life. Though you may be threatened by mortal
danger, you will find true life in Jesus.
Only then will we be able to fully live.
So, let’s follow Jesus, the Word of God. Let’s hide our souls in the Lord. And we will live life to its fullest. God is our hiding place.
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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