Creator, Father, King #143

The LORD replied, “Don’t say, ‘I’m too young,’ for you must go wherever I send you and say whatever I tell you.”

BEFORE JEREMIAH WAS A great prophet, he was a normal youth with parents, chores, dreams, and questions about the future. One day, the Lord rocked the daily monotony from his life.

“Before you were born,” God said, “I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5).

Wow! Talk about a wake-up call! How would you react if God told you this? Would you jump up and down for joy? Faint in shock? Fall down in worship?

Jeremiah hesitated.

“O Sovereign LORD,” he replied, “I can’t speak for you! I’m too young!” (verse 6).

If you’re familiar with biblical callings, that type of response really doesn’t fly with God.

“Don’t say, ‘I’m too young,’” God said, “for you must go wherever I send you and say whatever I tell you. And don’t be afraid of the people, for I will be with you and will protect you. I, the LORD, have spoken!” (verses 7-8).

Jeremiah, of course, became one of history’s greatest prophets—and one of the most persecuted saints in the Bible. As he ministered to a rebellious, idolatrous people, he was beaten, put in stocks, imprisoned, thrown into a muddy cistern, and eventually exiled to Egypt.

Yet he remained faithful to the calling of his youth.

What’s It Mean?

The book of Jeremiah’s fifty-two chapters are power-packed with truth. God’s revelation of his future new covenant in Jeremiah 31:31-34—fulfilled through Christ’s work on the cross—is particularly powerful.

Yet like Moses, Gideon, and others before him, Jeremiah tried avoiding God’s initial calling. He tried using his age and inexperience as an excuse.

Not good enough! As Paul told young Timothy centuries later, “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity” (1 Timothy 4:12, ESV).

What about you? Are you trying to use your age as an excuse to God? In his eyes, that’s no reason to be spiritually unfruitful. God used youth to slay giants (1 Samuel 17), rule nations (2 Chronicles 34:1-2), and miraculously heal military generals (2 Kings 5). His power and plans aren’t limited by something as insignificant as human age.

God wants to do great things through you, too. Humble yourself before him. Be open to his calling and see where he takes you—all for his glory!

Now What?

When God calls, answer willingly!

Did You Know?

Jeremiah’s prophetic ministry—concurrent with the Babylonian Empire’s conquest of Judah—spanned forty-plus years and a half-dozen kings.