Kansas City, Missouri, United States - Reflecting God – Embrace Holy Living - “Support Requires Dedication” – Wednesday, 16 July 2014 - Scripture: Jeremiah 36: Reading God’s Message1 In the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, Jeremiah received this Message from God:
2 “Get a scroll and write down everything I’ve told you regarding Israel and Judah and all the other nations from the time I first started speaking to you in Josiah’s reign right up to the present day.
3 “Maybe the community of Judah will finally get it, finally understand the catastrophe that I’m planning for them, turn back from their bad lives, and let me forgive their perversity and sin.”
4 So Jeremiah called in Baruch son of Neriah. Jeremiah dictated and Baruch wrote down on a scroll everything that God had said to him.
5-6 Then Jeremiah told Baruch, “I’m blacklisted. I can’t go into God’s Temple, so you’ll have to go in my place. Go into the Temple and read everything you’ve written at my dictation. Wait for a day of fasting when everyone is there to hear you. And make sure that all the people who come from the Judean villages hear you.
7 “Maybe, just maybe, they’ll start praying and God will hear their prayers. Maybe they’ll turn back from their bad lives. This is no light matter. God has certainly let them know how angry he is!”
8 Baruch son of Neriah did everything Jeremiah the prophet told him to do. In the Temple of God he read the Message of God from the scroll.
9 It came about in December of the fifth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah that all the people of Jerusalem, along with all the people from the Judean villages, were there in Jerusalem to observe a fast to God.
10 Baruch took the scroll to the Temple and read out publicly the words of Jeremiah. He read from the meeting room of Gemariah son of Shaphan the secretary of state, which was in the upper court right next to the New Gate of God’s Temple. Everyone could hear him.
11-12 The moment Micaiah the son of Gemariah heard what was being read from the scroll—God’s Message!—he went straight to the palace and to the chambers of the secretary of state where all the government officials were holding a meeting: Elishama the secretary, Delaiah son of Shemaiah, Elnathan son of Achbor, Gemariah son of Shaphan, Zedekiah son of Hananiah, and all the other government officials.
13 Micaiah reported everything he had heard Baruch read from the scroll as the officials listened.
14 Immediately they dispatched Jehudi son of Nethaniah, son of Semaiah, son of Cushi, to Baruch, ordering him, “Take the scroll that you have read to the people and bring it here.” So Baruch went and retrieved the scroll.
15 The officials told him, “Sit down. Read it to us, please.” Baruch read it.
16 When they had heard it all, they were upset. They talked it over. “We’ve got to tell the king all this.”
“Support Requires Dedication” by Norayr Hahan
I wonder if Baruch thought he would ever be finished. First, he gets called upon to write down all the words that Jeremiah dictated. He was then called to read from the scroll to the people who had gathered from all the towns. It wasn’t an easy message to read. It was a call to repentance. Many would not only reject the message, they would turn against the messenger. Nevertheless, Baruch carried on. From there, he was called to take the scrolls with him and go somewhere else and read it again. Each time he probably wondered if the message would be received or rejected.
One thing we do know about Baruch was that he did his job and he did it well. He didn’t leave anything out. He didn’t sugar-coat the message. He didn’t back out or make excuses. He was faithful all the way through.
When God calls us to His service, how do we respond? Are we hesitant? Are we willing to take it only so far? Or are we willing to do everything the Lord commands? May the Lord help us today to be dedicated to the task to which He calls us.
Hymn for Today:
“In The Service of the King” by Alfred H, Ackley1. I am happy in the service of the King.
I am happy, oh, so happy;
I have peace and joy that nothing else can bring,
In the service of the King.
Chorus:
In the service of the King
Every talent I will bring;
I have peace and joy and blessing
In the service of the King.
2. I am happy in the service of the King.
I am happy, oh, so happy;
Thro' the sunshine and the shadow I can sing,
In the service of the King.
Chorus:
In the service of the King
Every talent I will bring;
I have peace and joy and blessing
In the service of the King.
3. I am happy in the service of the King.
I am happy, oh, so happy;
To His guiding hand forever I will cling,
In the service of the King.
Chorus:
In the service of the King
Every talent I will bring;
I have peace and joy and blessing
In the service of the King.
4. I am happy in the service of the King.
I am happy, oh, so happy;
All that I possess to Him I gladly bring,
In the service of the King.
Chorus:
In the service of the King
Every talent I will bring;
I have peace and joy and blessing
In the service of the King.
Thought for Today:
“Bend an ear, God; answer me.
I’m one miserable wretch!
Keep me safe—haven’t I lived a good life?
Help your servant—I’m depending on you!
You’re my God; have mercy on me.
I count on you from morning to night.
Give your servant a happy life;
I put myself in your hands!
You’re well-known as good and forgiving,
bighearted to all who ask for help.
Pay attention, God, to my prayer;
bend down and listen to my cry for help.
Every time I’m in trouble I call on you,
confident that you’ll answer.”(Psalm 86:4-7).
Prayer Needs:
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