Draw Near – 365 Guides to Greater Intimacy with GodSample

SELECTED TO SUFFER Some sects select their prophets in strange ways. One group seats prospects around a table and then pours a cup of water in the center of the table. The person to whom the water flows is considered the divine choice. Leaders chosen by such a system seldom show leadership ability, and this group is often disappointed in the results. God has never called prophets in such a fickle fashion. When God tapped Jeremiah for service, the young lad protested, saying he was too young to serve. God's answer came as a shock. From conception, God said, Jeremiah had been chosen to proclaim the message to God's people. During the next fifty years, Jeremiah would need the assurance that his calling was not a casual matter. Perhaps no other Old Testament prophet suffered as much for his country as Jeremiah did. He was rejected by his own priestly father and stoned by his friends on the streets of Jerusalem. Jeremiah knew imprisonment many times and was later called a traitor to the country he loved. His written prophecies were publicly torn up and burned by an angry king. Jeremiah was placed in a cistern to die, and would have, had a black servant of the king not rescued him. Tradition says he was finally stoned to death by people who tired of hearing his prophetic pronouncements. Perhaps the main lesson we can learn from the moving book of Jeremiah is that faithfulness to God is costly. Serving Christ is not always a popular move; and, at times, our stand can draw the lightning. Summer soldiers fade during these trying hours, but those who are sure of their calling stand firm. While the cost of serving God is great, the blessings far outweigh any inconvenience.