God's Word; A flame that cannot be quenched

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What an example Jeremiah is in the Old Testament. He really never saw good times for his nation. He was divinely appointed to prophesy of the judgement to come. And in chapter 20 of his book, Jeremiah tells of his persecution. Pashur, a chief governor at that time, took Jeremiah and "placed him in the stocks," just for relaying God's message to Israel regarding the captivity to come. After he confronts Pashur and is put in the stocks, Jeremiah speaks of quitting on God. He states in verses 7-8 that he is weak, perhaps too weak in his own eyes to endure the persecution and mocking, which he described as a "daily" occurrence. But then Jeremiah makes a profound statement in verse nine: "Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay."

Jeremiah's flesh wanted to give up in a state of weakness, but because God's word dwelt in him, he was unable to fight against it. That word burned within him, making it impossible for him to fight against its convicting power. Ultimately, Jeremiah grew tired of fighting ("forbearing") this burning word within him and he was unable to contain it ("I could not stay").

Oh how we should strive to be more like Jeremiah. That we should be so engrossed by God's Word that it consumes our being, so much so, that we are unable to remain silent. The more trouble the world seems to bring our way, the more we have to fight against the flesh's desire to quit doing what God' wants us to do. And the only way to combat the weakness of our flesh is to bury God's Word bone deep. Then, when the world seeks to mock and persecute us, we can rely on God's Word to burn its way to the surface, keeping us on fire for Him to the point we are unable to keep silent about it!

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