Day Fifty-Four -- I have put my words in your mouth

Jeremiah 1:1 to Jeremiah 10:13

Jeremiah lived in the southern kingdom of Judah in the years leading up to its conquest by the Babylonians, including the final siege and destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple.  He belonged to a priestly family that lived in a small town several miles north of Jerusalem, and by hereditary rights should have been a priest himself.  God, however, had other plans for him.  Jeremiah would be one of the LORD's prophets: Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations (Jeremiah 1:5).  It was not to be an easy task, for Jeremiah spent several decades trying to warn the people of the coming judgment that God would bring down upon them if they failed to repent from their worship of idols and their forgetfulness of the LORD's commandments.

Not many of us live with a prenatal understanding of our particular role or calling in life, especially when it comes to God.  That's a lot to ask of anyone.  Jeremiah rises to the challenge of speaking the LORD's words, but not without personal cost.  After all, Jeremiah is not flattering the people and telling them how good they are.  Jeremiah begins his prophecies by saying such things as: Hear this, you foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear (5:21).  This would not be an easy calling for Jeremiah and he would not make a lot of friends.  He would, however, be for ever faithful to God, and for that alone he is remembered and honored.