One of the most oft-repeated phrases in
this prophetic book is: “The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah…” It appears
over thirty times in 52 chapters. Of course, this phrase is not confined to the
book of Jeremiah. We read that…
- The word of the Lord came to Abram… (Genesis 15:1)
- The word of the Lord came to Samuel… (1 Samuel 15:10)
- The word of the Lord came to Nathan… (2 Samuel 7:4)
- The word of the Lord came to the prophet Gad… (2 Samuel 24:11)
- The word of the Lord came to Solomon… (1 Kings 6:11)
- The word of the Lord came to the prophet… (1 Kings 13:20)
- The word of the Lord came to Jehu… (1 Kings 16:1)
- The word of the Lord came to Elijah… (1 Kings 18:1)
- The word of the Lord came to Shemaiah… (2 Chronicles 12:7)
- The word of the Lord came to Isaiah… (Isaiah 38:4)
And Ezekiel says, over and over again,
“The word of the Lord came to me.”
Where would the people of God have been
without the word of the Lord, especially in the time of Jeremiah, when the
world seemed so topsy-turvy, and all hope seemed like a distant dream? We all
need a word from the Lord; we all need God’s guidance, not just in dark days,
but in seemingly bright days as well.
In her book, A Slow and Certain Light, former
missionary Elisabeth Elliot tells of two adventurers who stopped by to see her
one day. They were all loaded down with equipment for traveling through the
rain forests of South America. Interestingly enough they didn’t seek advice
from Elliot; they just wanted a few phrases to use to converse with the
natives.
Elliot makes this application to our spiritual lives:
“Sometimes we come to God as the two adventurers came to me–confident and, we
think, well-informed and well-equipped. But has it occurred to us that with all
our accumulation of stuff, something is missing?”
Elliot suggests that we often ask God for too little. “We
know what we need–a yes or no answer, please, to a simple question. Or perhaps
a road sign. Something quick and easy to point the way.
“What we really ought to have is the Guide himself. Maps,
road signs, a few useful phrases are good things, but infinitely better is
Someone who has been there before and knows the way.”
It is our privilege to have the Guide himself living
inside of us when we invite the Holy Spirit of God to live in our hearts. Has
the word of the Lord come to you…to me?
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