Message from Scripture: 9/20/2021

 

Our message from Scripture today comes from Jer. 12:5; “If you have run with footmen and they have tired you out, then how can you compete with horses? If you fall down in a land of peace, how will you do in the thicket of the Jordan?”

 

Jeremiah has been called the weeping prophet, because of the suffering he had to endure to proclaim God’s message, and the judgment he knew awaited God’s people, his countrymen, for their sins. The task was overwhelming to him, and he called out to God about the sins of the people, about how they refused to hear, and what he knew was going to happen. God responded in a very vivid way, telling Jeremiah that what he had to experience was mild compared to what was to come. If you can’t keep up with men, how are you going to keep up with horses? If running in a level field is difficult, what about where briars and shrubs make it difficult to navigate? God reminded Jeremiah times would get worse. Even his own family would turn against him.

 

Sometimes what we face in life is but a foretaste of what is to come. If our faith isn’t strong enough to support us in times of relative ease, what will we do when life really gets hard? Life in Christ is to be from faith to faith (Rom. 1:17), and only by facing and enduring trials can faith really grow. Are we fair weather Christians, or are we in it even during the storms of life? If the least issue causes us difficulties, then what will happen when life really becomes difficult?

 

Our challenge, whether young in the faith or a battle-scarred veteran against sin, is to always trust God and never give up, knowing He is with us all the way, that He has a plan that is preparing us for eternity, and that in the end, it will be worth it all. Is Jesus Christ truly your Lord and Savior? Will you live for Him, no matter what? Only by being faithful until death will we receive the crown of life. Never give up. God bless.

 

Robert