JEREMIAH 15:16
A WORTHY PASSION
What are you passionate about?
· Are you passionate about hunting and/or fishing?
· Are you passionate about the Penguins, the Pirates and/or the Steelers?
· Are you passionate about participating in one or more sports?
· Are you passionate about your job?
· Are you passionate about your children or your grandchildren?
· Are you passionate about ice cream and/or other desserts?
· Are you passionate about pizza, hamburgers, steak, or some other food?
· Are you passionate over your wife or husband?
· Are you passionate over a certain special guy or girl?
· Are you passionate about doing well in school?
· Are you passionate about being an American?
It is okay to a point to be passionate about some or all of the things that we mentioned. There are other passions which are not good at all.
· Some people are passionately racist.
· Some people are passionately militant.
· Some people allow their sexual passions to rule them.
· Some people are passionate about bad habits.
· Some people hate passionately, as we discovered this past week, when a young man murdered 33 people, including himself.
We will all be passionate about some things.
Some passions will last a life time.
I think it would be a shame to not have within your life at least one passion that is worthwhile. I’m talking about a passion that is positive, that is helpful, that is beneficial.
I’m talking about a passion that is worthy of all the time, thought, and energy we put into something that we are passionate about.
There was an Old Testament Prophet by the name of Jeremiah. He was called to minister to the people of Judah, the Southern Kingdom of Israel in a time of Spiritual and moral decay. In fact, during Jeremiah’s time Jerusalem fell and many Jewish people went into captivity.
God had warned the people through Jeremiah and others that judgment was coming. He called for repentance, for a turning back to God.
You could probably tell from the Scripture reading that Jeremiah did not have an easy time of it. He was persecuted. He was ignored. He was accused of not speaking of God and of lying. And most times when the people did ask for advice from God through him, they didn’t believe or do what Jeremiah told them.
Jeremiah was often burdened for his people. He’s been called “The Weeping Prophet”. He often suffered personally.
What kept Jeremiah going? Why didn’t he just “throw in the towel?” Of course the fact that He was serving God helped. The fact that God had called him kept Him going as well.
Jeremiah 1:4-5 - Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
There was another thing that kept Jeremiah going. It was a worthy passion. It is a passion so worthy that I have decided to make it a passion of mine. It is a passion so worthy that I want you to make it your passion. I envy you younger folks who have more time than us older folks to make this your passion.
Jeremiah 15:16 - Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts.
Jeremiah was passionate about the Word of God.
In this verse Jeremiah is talking to God.
The first two words of his mouth are, “Thy words.”
Jeremiah was not talking about the words of another individual. He was talking about God’s words.
· God is in charge. His Words count more.
· God is righteous. His Words count more.
· God is love. His Words count more.
· God is sinless. His Words count more.
· God is perfect. His Words count more.
· God is everywhere. His Words count more.
· God knows every thing. His Words count more.
· God is all powerful. His Words count more.
· God is honest and accurate. His Words count more.
Jeremiah was privileged to have God’s Word.
You and I have the same privilege.
We have God’s Word - A library of 66 Books that God authored and preserved.
2 Timothy 3:16 - All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
God’s Word is inspired. It is God breathed.
2 Peter 1:20-21 - Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. [21] For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
A message from God is worthy of your attention.
A message from God is worthy of your passion.
Jeremiah continues, Thy words were found…
God’s Word is easily found.
You probably own at least one Bible.
You can come to Sunday School and be taught the Bible.
You can attend Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting and be taught the Bible.
You can attend church Sunday Morning and Evening, and be taught the Bible.
You can open any number of books, commentaries, and study Bibles and be taught the Bible.
You can turn on your radio or television and be taught the Bible.
Why you can even strain your brain a little and come up with a verse or two that’s still floating around in there from previous memory work or familiarity like the Lord’s Prayer, John 3:16, or the 23rd Psalm.
God’s Word is all around. It’s available.
But it is up to you find it.
You have to read it, to study it, to pay attention when it is explained and preached.
Even if you’re forced to be in church or Sunday School or some other meeting where the Bible is being taught, you can ignore it and make excuses for not paying attention.
Thy words were found and I did eat them…
Other than liking the taste of food, why do we eat?
We eat because we are hungry.
We eat because our body tells us to.
We eat because we need the nourishment that food gives.
Food brings nourishment to your body.
God’s Word brings nourishment to your soul.
So how do we get nourishment from God’s Word?
· We need to bite it. Take a portion in.
· We need to chew it. Think about what it means.
· We need to swallow it. Make it part of our lives.
· We need to digest it. When we have digested God’s Word we have chosen to obey it.
The end result is spiritual growth. We are nourished spiritually.
The secret to eating God’s Word is in meditating on it.
You think about the things that you are passionate about.
If you are not thinking about God’s Word you are not passionate about it.
Joshua 1:8 - This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
Psalm 1:1-3 - Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. [2] But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. [3] And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit
in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
Psalm 119:15-16 - I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways. [16] I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word.
So how do we meditate on God’s Word?
One way is to mull over the sermon, or the Bible Class or Sunday School Lesson. Think about the Scriptures and what they mean to you.
Another way to meditate is to think about the meaning of Scripture as you read it. Apply it to your life. What does it mean to you? According to the passage before you what should you be doing?
I feel that the best way to meditate on Scripture is to begin by memorizing it. That way you can meditate on the Word of God any time, day or night, every day.
I personally use 3x5 cards, writing the verse on one side and the reference on the other.
I then go over the verse until I can say it.
Then I review, and review, and review, and review…
You can’t stop reviewing if you want to keep the Word fresh in your mind.
I don’t review every verse every day, but about every third day.
Don’t get discouraged if it takes you time to learn verses.
Even if you were to learn only one a month because that’s all you can do, that’s better than none at all!
As you memorize the verses, then you can begin to meditate on those verses.
· Ask yourself what the verse means.
· Ask yourself how it applies to you.
· Ask yourself what this verse is telling you to do, if anything.
· Work at obeying the verse on a daily basis, if it’s the kind of verse you need to obey.
· Pray over the verse and ask God to help you obey it.
· First I need to get the verse in my head. Then I need to get in my heart. When I am actually living that verse in my life, that verse is hidden in my heart.
Psalm 119:11 - Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
Thy words were found and I did eat them…
Learn to meditate on the Word of God.
Jeremiah 15:16 - Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart…
My friend, something is doing to be the joy and rejoicing of your heart.
· It might be school.
· It might be a relationship.
· It might be sports.
· It might be sex.
· It might be a friendship.
· It might be work.
· It might be hunting.
· It might be leisure.
· It might be reading.
The more Jeremiah ate the Word of God, the more God’s Word became the joy and rejoicing of his heart.
What possible joy can come from the Word of God?
· The joy of obedience
· The joy of God’s peace
Isaiah 26:3 - Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
· The joy of answered prayer. If you truly make God’s Word yours, you can’t help but pray and see God’s answer.
John 14:13-14 - And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. [14] If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.
· The joy that comes with being filled with God’s Word.
Colossians 3:16 - Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
· The joy that comes with appropriating God’s Spiritual blessings.
Ephesians 1:3 - Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
I think of it this way: Other things may bring me joy. But God’s Word is to be the joy or the delight of my heart.
Why should that be? The rest of the verse tells us.
Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts.
It was because of who Jeremiah was that the Word became the joy and rejoicing of His Heart.
…for I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts.
Jeremiah was part of God’s chosen people.
Jeremiah was a servant of “the Lord God of Israel”.
Jeremiah was a believer, a man of faith.
God had chosen Jeremiah.
Jeremiah had chosen God.
He belonged to God.
God belonged to Jeremiah.
God’s Word meant everything to Jeremiah because of who Jeremiah was.
My friend, the Word of God will not really mean much to you until God calls you by His name.
You need to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior from sin.
When you do, you become a child of God.
John 1:12 - But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
Galatians 4:6-7 - And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. [7] Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
If you are God’s child, then my friend, you need a worthy passion. God’s Word should be precious to you because it comes from your Heavenly Father who sent His very own Son to die for you and give you eternal life. When my precious “Daddy” speaks, I should hang on every word because I am called by His name.
Do you have a “worthy passion”?
Are you passionate about God’s Word?
Jeremiah 15:16 - Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts.