Should you then seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them. For I will bring disaster on all people, declares the LORD, but wherever you go I will let you escape with your life. – Jeremiah 45:5

Today's Scripture Reading (July 26, 2023): Jeremiah 44 & 45

He spoke with authority to those who had gathered around him. "If you are poor, if you do not have the prestige that you want, it is because you lack faith. Because God owns the cattle on a thousand hills, to whom do you think he wants to give that kind of wealth? Why would God deny his children the wealth that he has? Let your neighbor live in sin; if you will live in faith, you will reap treasures from everything your father owns." It is a good message, and it even makes a measure of sense. However, while the message is found on the lips of many people who possess a measure of spiritual authority, it is also a message that is rare in the Bible. Is God's blessing on us? I think the answer is yes, but that blessing often takes a different form than material possessions.

God's message to Jeremiah is clear. Even though Jeremiah has done everything right, the prophet will suffer from the effects of the nation's sin. There will be no special handling or dispensation. All that God would promise is that Jeremiah, wherever he was, would escape with his life. But he will not receive great things for himself.

Of course, I am not sure Jeremiah would have it any other way. He was a man of the people and wanted nothing more than to preach a message of reconciliation and repentance to his national brothers and sisters. And he was quite willing to suffer with his people in exchange for the opportunity to share the things God had told him with them.

We are called not to be above the people but to stand in their midst. I must admit that I seriously question pastors and ministry leaders who receive much more salary than the average person in their congregations. I remember hearing one pastor defend his salary by arguing that he preached a message of material blessing, so why shouldn't he reap the benefits and be among the richest of the congregation? It is a dangerous thought pattern for any of us who are called to stand among the people and intercede for them and with them. Why should we expect greatness? That has never been our call. We share in the call of Jesus to minister to the poor and spend time with those far from God. To share in their world and their fears, knowing that our futures are secure in the hands of God. And until God calls us home, knowing that even in the worst moments, we will escape with our lives.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 24