LOSING OUR CALLING

Jeremiah 24:9 I will make them abhorrent and an offense to all the kingdoms of the earth, a reproach and by-word, an object of ridicule and cursing, wherever I banish them.

Have you ever wondered why we should trust in the Bible, and see it as the inspired word of God? Why not use the Koran, the Jehovah Witness Bible, or a multitude of other good books written over the years that teach and entertain? Well, many people do use them, but for the Christian there can be only one book that is far above others in regards to importance and instruction. This is of course the Bible. The reason for this is that time and again there is recorded in it inspired instruction from God. Granted there is history, practical advice and other things that may not be spiritual in nature, but there is undeniable evidence that only God could have given certain information to the writer. Today’s verse is certainly one of these revelations, and it leaves us with the obvious question of, “How much more is to be found in the Bible that God is trying to tell us?”

There are temporal truths, universal truths, revelations that pertain to one person and then there are some for all people. Sometimes God’s message is for his covenant people and other times for non-covenant people. In some ways the Bible is like a treasure chest, and it is up to us to search through it to find what all it holds.

Today's verse is one of those revelations that points to how trustworthy the Bible is. Every time the Jews left their Promised Land they became objects of ridicule and even cursing. When they would go to Egypt they would find themselves in slavery and taken advantage of. The Egyptian people didn’t even want to eat with them. They were looked down on, despised and rejected. When they were conquered by the Assyrians and Babylonians and sent into exile, they were never welcomed but despised and rejected there as well. Even today Jews live all over the world and for really no reason, with the exception of God’s judgment on them, they are looked down on, ridiculed, rejected and even cursed. Nations hate the Jews and want to drive them into the sea killing every one of them. And why do they do it? It certainly can’t be for the land. Their country is very small. It is 263 miles long and 9 miles at it’s narrowest point. And part of this land belongs to the Palestinian people, so the actual land is even smaller than the land size might indicate. It should also be noted that in their land they also share it with people that have moved there from all over the world. So Jews live all over the world and even within their own land they are hated, ridiculed and cursed.

How could this be so accurately recorded thousands of years earlier if it wasn’t from God? Well, it couldn’t! There is no logical explanation for it other than God has made it so. Well, why did God banish them in Jeremiah’s day and even earlier? The reason was they rejected him as their God! Time and again the Jews would turn to worship idols made of stone, gold, silver and wood. It was their passion then and even now to be materialistic, rather than the spiritual priesthood that God called them to be. It was God’s intention for them to be a light or a voice to the world. They were to help the world know and love the one true loving God. Whenever they would turn from God, God would turn from them. Even today whenever a Jew is mentioned people think of them as money makers.

Materialism is a form of idol worship, but a far greater rejection of God has come from the Jews with their rejection of Jesus. When they told Pilate that the blood of Jesus could be on them and their children, God took that to heart. Not only had the Jews rejected their Messiah, the one that they looked forward to making them the dominant nation of the earth, but they had rejected their God.

God had called them to be his ambassadors or evangelists to the world. With their rejection, God called those who would accept Jesus and this is of course the church. For almost two thousand years the disciples of Jesus Christ have faithfully shared with others the Good New of Jesus to the world. And now with Christian broadcasting satellites, the Good News of Jesus is being shared with people all over the world even countries that forbid Christianity.

Sad to say I believe that some in Christianity are losing their focus. We are taking our eyes off of Jesus, and starting to do just like the Jews of Jeremiah’s day. Materialism and a worldly focus is pulling us from our God and Savior. We see it in politics today with presidential candidates and parties trying to get the conservative Christian endorsements and votes. We can hear sermons that never mention the name of Jesus, but focus on psychology and counseling. The alter area of many new churches are more like stages than sanctuaries that are absent of a cross or aler. More and more often we see less and less of things that help us focus on Jesus. While this is concerning, it is only a reflection of the personal lives of Christians. The focus of many Christians can not be indistinguishable from any other person in this world. Sad to say many people that are of different religions seem more passionate about their god and religious lifestyle than Christians. This is dangerous from the perspective that God is not a respecter of people. If God has and is continuing to punish the Jews from turning from their calling, he will also do it to the Christians as well. We can not expect God to look the other way when his church accepts and condones same sex relationships, intimate relations outside marriage, and a host of other things. While the world may feel there is nothing wrong with any of that, the followers and lovers of Jesus can not. We are called for a different lifestyle, because the world will never listen to us if we sound and look just like them. Let's not give up our calling by God to take Jesus to the world in love and Christ-likeness. If we do, we can only expect the same treatment that the Jews are receiving around the world.

Prayer: Holy Spirit, please help us to never give up our calling to represent Jesus to the world. While many will never welcome Jesus or even his message, please help us to never lose focus on Jesus.

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