Calling. What is yours? What are you put on earth to do?
You may be looking for some deep answer or trying to relate this question to career, volunteering, or even ministry. There may be truth for you in all of those areas. Yet, at the root of it all, every one of us has a common calling. We are here to live in a manner that brings Glory to God.
But that doesn’t always happen. Sometimes, we go off and do our own thing, live by our own rules, and serve us instead of Him. Thankfully, God does not just throw us out. Instead, He reminds us that He made us, He has a purpose for us, and that we can always repent and return.
-Day 47 (Feb 16, 2022)
Jeremiah 1:1–3:5 (MEV)
1 The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin,
2 to whom the word of the Lord came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.
3 It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, to the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the captivity of Jerusalem in the fifth month.
4 Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; and before you were born I sanctified you, and I ordained you a prophet to the nations.”
6 Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Truly, I cannot speak, for I am a youth.”
7 But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am a youth.’ For you shall go everywhere that I send you, and whatever I command you, you shall speak.
8 Do not be afraid of their faces. For I am with you to deliver you,” says the Lord.
9 Then the Lord put forth His hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me, “Now, I have put My words in your mouth.
10 See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to throw down, to build and to plant.”
11 Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Jeremiah, what do you see?” And I said, “I see a branch of an almond tree.”
12 Then the Lord said to me, “You have seen well. For I will hasten My word to perform it.”
13 The word of the Lord came to me the second time, saying, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see a boiling pot, and it is facing away from the north.”
14 Then the Lord said to me: Out of the north calamity will break forth on all the inhabitants of the land.
15 For I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north, says the Lord. And they will come and they will set each one his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all the walls all around, and against all the cities of Judah.
16 I will utter My judgments against them concerning all their wickedness, whereby they have forsaken Me and have burned incense to other gods, and have worshipped the works of their own hands.
17 You therefore gird up your loins and arise, and speak to them all that I command you. Do not be dismayed at their faces, lest I confound you before them.
18 For indeed, I have made you this day a fortified city and an iron pillar and bronze walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the officials, against the priests, and against the people of the land.
19 They will fight against you, but they will not prevail against you, for I am with you, says the Lord, to deliver you.
1 Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
2 Go and proclaim in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus says the Lord: I remember you, the kindness of your youth, the love of your espousals, when you followed Me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.
3 Israel is holy to the Lord, and the first fruits of His harvest. All who eat of it will become guilty; disaster will come upon them, says the Lord.
4 Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob and all the families of the house of Israel.
5 Thus says the Lord: What iniquity have your fathers found in Me, that they have gone far from Me, and have walked after vanity and have become vain?
6 They did not say, “Where is the Lord who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, who led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of drought and of the shadow of death, through a land that no man passed through and where no man lived?”
7 And I brought you into a plentiful country to eat its fruit and its goodness. But when you entered, you defiled My land and made My heritage an abomination.
8 The priests did not say, “Where is the Lord?” And those who handle the law did not know Me; the shepherds also transgressed against Me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal and walked after things that do not profit.
9 Therefore I will yet contend with you, says the Lord, and with your sons’ sons I will contend.
10 For pass over the coastlands of Cyprus and see, and send to Kedar and consider diligently, and see if there is such a thing.
11 Has a nation changed their gods, though they are not gods? But My people have changed their glory for that which does not profit.
12 Be astonished at this, O heavens, and be horribly afraid, be very desolate, says the Lord.
13 For My people have committed two evils. They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.
14 Is Israel a servant? Is he a homeborn slave? Why has he been plundered?
15 The young lions roared at him and roared loudly, and they made his land a waste; his cities have been destroyed, without inhabitant.
16 Also the men of Memphis and Tahpanhes have shaved the crown of your head.
17 Have you not brought this on yourself, in that you have forsaken the Lord your God when He led you in the way?
18 And now what are you doing in the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of the Nile? Or what are you doing in the way of Assyria, to drink the waters of the River?
19 Your own wickedness will correct you, and your backslidings will reprove you. Know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter for you to have forsaken the Lord your God, and the fear of Me is not in you, says the Lord God of Hosts.
20 For long ago I have broken your yoke and burst your bonds; and you said, “I will not serve.” For upon every high hill and under every green tree you wander, playing the harlot.
21 Yet I had planted you a noble vine, a wholly faithful seed. How then have you turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine to Me?
22 For though you wash yourself with lye, and take much soap, yet your iniquity is marked before Me, says the Lord God.
23 How can you say, “I am not polluted, I have not gone after the Baals”? See your way in the valley. Know what you have done. You are a swift young camel entangling her ways,
24 a wild donkey used to the wilderness that sniffs the wind in her passion. In the time of her heat, who can turn her away? All those who seek her will not weary themselves; in her month they shall find her.
25 Withhold your foot from being unshod and your throat from thirst. But you said, “There is no hope. No! For I have loved strangers, and after them I will go.”
26 As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed. They, their kings, their officials, and their priests, and their prophets
27 say to a tree, “You are my father.” And to a stone, “You gave birth to me.” For they have turned their back to Me, and not their face. But in the time of their trouble they will say, “Arise and save us.”
28 But where are your gods that you have made for yourself? Let them arise, if they can save you in the time of your trouble; for according to the number of your cities are your gods, O Judah.
29 Why will you plead with Me? You all have transgressed against Me, says the Lord.
30 In vain I have smitten your children; they received no correction. Your own sword has devoured your prophets like a destroying lion.
31 O generation, consider the word of the Lord: Have I been a wilderness to Israel? A land of darkness? Why do My people say, “We are free to roam. We will come no more to You”?
32 Can a virgin forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? Yet My people have forgotten Me for days without number.
33 You prepare your way very well to seek love. Therefore you have also taught the wicked women your ways.
34 Also in your skirts is found the blood of the souls of the innocent poor. I have not found it by breaking in, but in spite of all these things.
35 Yet you say, “Because I am innocent, surely His anger shall turn away from me.” Now I will plead with you, because you say, “I have not sinned.”
36 Why do you go about so much to change your way? You also shall be ashamed of Egypt, as you were ashamed of Assyria.
37 Indeed, you shall go forth from him with your hands upon your head; for the Lord has rejected those in whom you trust, and you shall not prosper in them.
1 If a man divorces his wife, and she goes from him and becomes another man’s, shall he return to her again? Shall not that land be greatly polluted? But you have played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to Me, says the Lord.
2 Lift up your eyes to the high places, and see! Where have you not been ravished? In the roads you have sat for them as the Arabian in the wilderness. And you have polluted the land with your harlotry and with your wickedness.
3 Therefore the showers have been withheld, and there has been no latter rain. And you had a harlot’s forehead; you refused to be ashamed.
4 Shall you not from this time cry to Me, “My Father, You are the guide of my youth?
5 Shall He reserve His anger forever? Shall He keep it to the end?” Indeed, you have spoken and done evil things as you could.