October 18, 2023
Jeremiah 1:1-10
“Your job is to pull up and tear down, take apart and demolish, and then start over, building and planting.”
Jeremiah was given a task that nobody wanted. He was called to speak to the people and let them know about the judgment that was coming. There is no wonder that he is known as the weeping prophet.
I look around our day and age and see a lot of would-be Jeremiahs. It seems that many of us think that we have been called to judge and deliver news of exile to people.
It's so easy to pull up. It's so easy to tear down. It's so easy to take apart. It's so easy to demolish.
The negative is easy. All we need is a bit of power and then we can destroy. Destruction becomes addictive. Why? Because we will inevitably find people who rally to us and help us destroy.
Some people just love to watch the world burn.
It's much more difficult to embrace the second half of what Jeremiah was called to, that is, starting over.
I think that's where the weeping comes from.
Starting over, building, and planting demands a holy imagination and a faith to believe that this thing that is begun will find completion. Typically, we don't get to see the fruit.
I am convicted this morning of being too easily caught up in tearing down and not focused enough on the rebuilding.
I am going to be asking myself this question today: “Am I focusing on what is wrong or on what can be done?”
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