Jeremiah 45:1-5

Spend time in prayer and silence with God asking Him to meet with you and speak to you.

Bible Reading

This is the message which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch the son of Neriah, when he had written down these words in a book at Jeremiah’s dictation, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, saying: “Thus says the Lord the God of Israel to you, O Baruch: ‘You said, “Ah woe is me! For the Lord has added sorrow to my pain; I am weary with my groaning and have found no rest”’. “Thus you are to say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Behold, what I have built I am about to tear down, and what I have planted I am about to uproot, that is, the whole land. But you, are you seeking great things for yourself? Do not seek them; for behold, I am going to bring disaster on all flesh, ‘declares the Lord, ‘but I will give your life as booty in all the places where you may go”’.

– Jeremiah 45:1-5

Devotion

Baruch was a young man of noble descent. He was Jeremiah’s personal assistant and scribe, the one responsible for writing down all the words of Jeremiah. It took him roughly 1 ½ years to record all that Jeremiah had said. After all of this work, it was Baruch who read from Jeremiah’s scroll of prophecies since Jeremiah was imprisoned and could not do so. Like Jeremiah, Baruch was hated by all because of this message of judgment. Jehoiakim had the scrolls cut up and burned. Jeremiah then dictated the message all over again to Baruch. After this, God asked Baruch a very searching question: “Are you seeking great things for yourself?” We may well imagine that Baruch was questioning the value of his life and work and was tempted to seek something better for his life. He questioned his place in the world, and in the plans of God. Wasn’t there something better? God gave Baruch a very clear answer: Don’t long for a high position in a doomed kingdom. The nation was about to be destroyed and all its leaders would die or be taken into captivity.

The Big Question

What is success? Success is doing the will of God regardless of the results. A mother who is called to be at home raising a family can be just as faithful a servant of God as a missionary serving on a foreign field. The key is not succumbing to the temptation to “pursue great things for ourselves,” rather, to pursue the great things that God wants to do with us. Are you faithfully serving God right where He has placed you? Are you pursuing the things of God? Remember, success is defined by your faithfulness, not the prominence of your role.

Conclude your time in prayer and silence reflecting on what God has revealed to you today.