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Advent Devotional for Friday, December 5
Jeremiah 1:4-10
As children, we are handed a piece of paper with the phrase: “When I grow up, I want to be _______.” Oh, how our imaginations go crazy at the sight of that blank. Our minds begin to wonder off on extraordinary adventures as astronauts, firemen, scientists, wizards, and even superheroes with cool powers and fancy capes that blow in the wind as we swoop in to save the day. There is no limit to what we could be at that age. This is so true that we change our answer to that ambiguous blank almost daily!
As we grow up, we continue to hold on to such dreams and passions of such adventures, but our hearts begin to feel drawn in fewer directions over time. As our focus narrows down to that one direction of which we feel we are called by God to take, the responsibility that comes with this call starts to overwhelm us. When we are still young, most of us take Jeremiah’s approach and respond with “God, I think you got this all wrong, for I am only a child.” As we get older and still hold on to this doubt, we only wish we can use the same excuse but must settle with the excuse that we are not prepared for such a call.
Jeremiah is not the only one with such a call story. There was Moses, whose excuses were ignored and who was sent out with Aaron to speak for him. And, we cannot forget Jonah for whom it took a giant fish to push him in the right direction. Despite their doubt and excuses, all of them accomplished their God-given calls. Through Jeremiah’s story, God bluntly calls us out on our lack of confidence in ourselves and our lack of faith in God. However, God follows such bluntness with a good dose of hope by reassuring us that God is there to guide us with our calls and will provide what we need to fulfill them.
Our loving God who knew us before birth, please fill our hearts with the strength and hope needed to accept Your call for us. Allow our mouths to proclaim Your words and our actions to fulfill Your will. Amen.
Jean-Paul Marshall
Middler MDiv Student
For the glory of God and to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary is a seminary in the Presbyterian-Reformed tradition whose mission is to educate and equip individuals for the ordained Christian ministry and other forms of Christian service and leadership; to employ its resources in the service of the church; to promote and engage in critical theological thought and research; and to be a winsome and exemplary community of God's people.
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