God spoke to me this morning about my attitude. What he revealed through an obscure passage of scripture was profound to me. I was reading along in Jeremiah 45, God’s message to Baruch, the scribe who was assigned to write down all of the messages from the Lord that were spoken through the prophet Jeremiah. He says to Baruch in verse 5: “And do you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not…” Why was he not supposed to seek them? The verse goes on to say that God is bringing destruction on the land (He has a bigger purpose) and that Baruch will be given his life as a prize of war. Here’s where I discovered my attitude - I felt a bit sorry for Baruch. My thinking when like this: “poor Baruch has to content himself with only his life.” If you could hear the sound effects in my head you would hear that needle scratching a record sound as I think, “whoa, wait a minute, something’s not right with that attitude.”
First of all the God of the universe just gave a very personal message to Baruch. That in itself is astounding. Secondly he has promised to give him his life as a prize of war in a situation that is very dire – life and death. In a life and death situation I would be very grateful to have my life preserved. I was thinking Baruch got the consolation prize, personal greatness vs. salvation.
How often I am guilty of this sinful thinking in my own life. When things are not going smoothly for me (I’m seeking great things for myself) I will struggle to find joy in the gospel that says God has given me life. I clearly don’t understand the dire circumstances that I have been saved from. God is bringing about destruction on all those against him and for some reason he has promised me my life as a prize of war. This is not consolation prize! This is not about my greatness but about His greatness. What joy fills my heart when I have a right understanding of this.
Rejoicing in the gospel- my salvation – is having an eternal perspective. It’s seeking first the kingdom of heaven and His righteousness (to which I cling) Matt. 6 not seeking great things for myself whatever that may entail. It’s having the same attitude of Christ Jesus who did not seek personal greatness but humbled himself to become a servant and to be obedient even to death (thank God!)Phil 2. It’s thanking God for my salvation – a prize of war – and clinging to future promises.
How often I seek great things for myself. God’s message to me this morning is: “SEEK THEM NOT.”
Comments
Mar. 6, 2009 - Untitled Comment
Posted by Mary
Great post Joy! I was humbled. Thank you!