Stepping in the Light

“Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.” Jeremiah 20:9

Jeremiah had been placed in prison. He had been preaching for a long time, but the people were not heeding his message. He told them that they needed to put away their idols and serve the Lord. He warned them that destruction and defeat were coming if they did not turn back to the Lord. The more Jeremiah preached, the more it seemed that the people were determined to do wrong. Jeremiah had grown weary of preaching to people who were not listening and were not willing to change. Jeremiah decided that he was going to quit preaching. He no longer wanted to deliver God’s message to the Israelites because of their hard hearts. Days went by, and Jeremiah did not preach. He still had God’s message in his heart. He knew that destruction was coming and that the people needed to be warned. He thought every day about God’s Word. When He thought about it, his heart was stirred. He felt like there was a fire in his bones. The burning in his heart increased until he could no longer keep himself from sharing God’s message with the people around him. God’s Word is just as powerful and just as important today as it was in Jeremiah’s day. If we will spend time in His Word every day and meditate on what we have read throughout the day, we will have something in our hearts that we will have to share with others.

“Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.” Jeremiah 18:2-4

God sent Jeremiah to the potter’s house because he wanted Jeremiah to give him an illustration of what He was planning to do with the people of Israel. As the potter worked with the clay, there was a flaw in the clay that ruined the vessel he intended to make. The potter did not throw away that particular lump of clay. Instead, he started over. God wanted Jeremiah to go to the people and preach to them that they were like the clay in His hands. He was free to exercise ownership and control over their lives. He had a vision for what He wanted them to become. He had a plan that would enable Him to make them into what He wanted them to be. He had a purpose that He wanted them to fulfill. He was patient in His approach, so that when they refused to become what He envisioned, He was willing to start over with a new vision and a new purpose because of the investment that He had made in them up to that point. Jeremiah’s message was intended specifically for Israel, but the principles certainly apply to God’s people today. We belong to God. He has a plan for our lives and a purpose for us to fulfill. We must be pliable in His hands and allow Him to work on us and make us into what He wants us to be.

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” II Timothy 2:15

Modern construction can be a very complicated process. Workers are involved in drawing plans, obtaining permits, preparing the building site, pouring concrete, framing walls, pulling wires, installing plumbing, etc. Though some of the workers involved may have a general understanding of every phase of the building process, it would be extremely rare to find a person who was an expert in every trade. An expert is a workman who always knows how to handle every situation. He would never be embarrassed because he did not know the answer to a particular problem. Some trades are regulated so that a worker must be licensed or certified in order to work in that trade. As Christians, we are a part of a very specialized building process. There is a stringent approval process for every laborer, and each one is approved by God Himself. He is looking for workers who never need to be ashamed because they do not know the answer to a particular question. Our manual is the Bible. God wants us to know what is in His Word and understand how to apply it to the questions that arise in our daily lives. We are part of the crew that is constructing His church, and we have the responsibility to know how to use His Word to reach the lost and encourage other believers. The more we learn about the Bible, the more confident we will be in using it to help other people.

“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” II Timothy 1:7

Fear is an unavoidable part of the human experience. In some ways fear actually helps us in life. The anticipation of a negative outcome can help us avoid mistakes and poor choices. You don’t walk out in front of an oncoming truck because you are afraid of being run over. This kind of fear is actually healthy. Each time we make good decisions because of a clear understanding of consequences it prolongs our lives and helps us to enjoy a happier existence. However, most of the things that we are afraid of hold us back and keep us from achieving our goals and fulfilling God’s purpose in our lives. Any time fear paralyzes us and prevents us from performing a task that God has given us to do, we fail to realize our full potential and we leave something undone that could have made a difference for someone else. God does not give us those kinds of fears. They come from within, and the flames of doubt and fear are fanned by the devil. How can we fight against our fears? Ephesians 6:16 says, “Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.” Faith is the opposite of fear. Our faith must be in God. God gives us the spirit of power, the spirit of love, and a sound mind. Within the framework of a sound mind, we can exercise faith in an omnipotent God Who gives us the power to love others and serve Him. Through faith in God, we can quench the spirit of fear and overcome the attacks of the evil one.

“But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.” I Timothy 6:6-8

In terms of acquiring possessions and making money, gain is quite an attractive concept. Most people go through life constantly wanting more, and many find that temporal possessions never completely satisfy. Interestingly enough, God uses the idea of gain to help us understand spiritual truths. In the book of Proverbs, wisdom is likened unto great treasure. We are admonished to seek after it and to find it at all costs. Jesus taught His disciples to lay up treasure in heaven. In an eternal sense, the only things in life that we really get to keep are the things that we give away. The gain that is the focus in the passage above is a spiritual one, but it is felt in the physical world in a very real sense. The first ingredient we must add is godliness. Jesus said, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33). If we want this gain, we must put God first. The second component is contentment. Contentment is an attitude that we can decide to adopt whenever we choose. Wealth may be having what you want, but contentment is wanting what you have. Wealth can never satisfy because it leaves us wanting more, but contentment always satisfies because it fills us with gratitude for God’s blessings in our lives. Godliness with contentment is great gain!

“The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger. Do they provoke me to anger? saith the LORD: do they not provoke themselves to the confusion of their own faces?” Jeremiah 7:18-19

At least a dozen times in scripture, God describes Himself as being jealous over His people. In Exodus 34:14, He says that His name is Jealous. In the passage above, we can feel God’s jealousy as He describes the family activities that His people were involved in. The children were dutifully gathering wood, the fathers took the wood that the children brought in and kindled a fire, and the mothers were working in the kitchen, kneading the dough to bake cakes to offer to their false gods. When the whole family is working together to make something happen, it means that it is pretty high on the priority list. God was jealous of the teamwork that characterized their worship of false idols because it demonstrated the degree of importance that the people placed upon their pagan sacrifices. It is disappointing to see people who claim to be Christians behaving in much the same way today. They work together to get everything packed and make all of the preparations necessary to put something temporal ahead of their relationship with God. How must this make God feel? If we really want to please the Lord, we will get our families involved in worshipping Him together.

“Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.” I Timothy 4:12

Paul charged Timothy to be a good example. Timothy was a young man, and Paul knew that in some ways this could be a disadvantage for him as a leader. We have a natural tendency to respect longevity and experience, neither of which are available to young people. So what can a young person do? Be a good example! For centuries, the older generations were revered and heeded; but in recent decades, we have seen a tendency for popular culture to follow the whims of the younger generations. This focuses a great deal of attention on younger Christians and presents them with a unique opportunity to use this new found influence for the cause of God and right. Imagine what would happen if every saved young person were to take a stand for what they believe in! What would happen if every young believer spoke out about the truth of scripture and the Bible way of salvation? What if every teenager and every young adult who named the name of Christ were to take to heart the exhortation of Paul to Timothy? Be an example in what you say, in how you live, in the way you love others, in your attitude, in your faith in God, and in pure living. Jesus had eleven followers who completely changed the world in the years after He went back to heaven, and I believe it would only take a few good examples to make a great deal of difference in our world today.

“Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit.” Jeremiah 2:11

Idolatry was rampant in Old Testament times, and God used the faithfulness of the heathen toward their false gods as a stinging rebuke of His people for their lack of devotion to Him. The Ammonites worshipped Milcom, the Canaanites worshipped Baal, the Moabites worshipped Chemosh, the Philistines worshipped Dagon, and the Zidonians worshipped Ashtoreth. What God was saying to His people in the passage above is that no one ever heard of any of these nations forsaking their gods. These were idols carved out of wood and graven from stone. They were inanimate objects that were treated with great reverence by the people who worshipped them. The Ammonites never traded Milcom for Ashtoreth. The Philistines never forsook Dagon to follow Chemosh. How could these people be so faithful to false deities that really never existed and had no power to help the people who worshipped them, while the Israelites never seemed to be able to muster up complete devotion to the Creator of the universe, Who had chosen them and worked countless miracles on their behalf? How many Christians today cause God to feel the same way? How sad it is when the unsaved are more faithful to their worldly amusements and sinful habits than those who claim to be Christians are to reading God’s Word, seeking Him in prayer, and meeting together to worship Him!

“I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts; A people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face; that sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense upon altars of brick; Which remain among the graves, and lodge in the monuments, which eat swine’s flesh, and broth of abominable things is in their vessels; Which say, Stand by thyself, come not near to me; for I am holier than thou. These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burneth all the day.” Isaiah 65:2-5

God was frustrated with the Israelites. Down through the centuries, they had enjoyed the unique blessings of being God’s chosen people; but they had never learned to follow His Word and obey His commands completely. God had made promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He had used Joseph to protect and preserve the Israelites as they grew into a nation. He had brought plagues upon the Egyptians and drowned Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea. He had spoken to them from Mount Sinai and given them His law in tables of stone. He had fed them with manna and given them water from the rock. He parted the Jordan River and knocked down the walls of Jericho. After all of this, they still refused to obey. In spite of their sin, they looked down upon the people around them. They said, “I am holier than you are.” Pride never looks good on anyone, but it is especially ugly when we point out other people’s flaws while refusing to recognize our own.

“This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.” I Timothy 1:15

Paul is writing this letter to Timothy. Timothy was one of Paul’s converts, and Paul had invested a great deal of time and effort in training him as a young preacher and fellow laborer in the Lord’s work. Timothy had a great deal of respect for Paul, so this letter would have meant a great deal to him. Paul describes himself here as the chief of sinners, or the worst sinner who ever lived. The Bible describes some pretty wicked people. Ahab and Jezebel were perhaps the most evil king and queen that reigned in Israel. When Athaliah’s son died, she killed her grandchildren so that she could be queen (II Kings 11:1). In the New Testament, the maniac of Gadara was possessed with a legion of devils. We may not be able to say for sure who the worst sinner who ever lived would have been, but the point here is that this was how the Apostle Paul saw himself. We have a tendency to want people to think well of us. We want to impress others, and we like to think of ourselves as basically good people. Paul did not allow himself such luxury. Perhaps that is part of the reason that he was able to stay motivated and why God used him in such a mighty way. Paul was grateful for God’s forgiveness and His goodness in allowing Paul to serve Him. Paul said, “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry” (I Timothy 1:12).