Hard to imagine what life was like for the prophet Jeremiah. Talk about “going against the flow.” His was not an encouraging message . . . his was not a popular message . . . his was not a message that got him many invitations for lunch after the sermon. No, his was a message that invited reproach and persecution. If his audience had given their backs to God, and they had, then they certainly weren’t beyond giving a beating to God’s messenger. You got to think it was kind of hard to get up to go to work in the morning . . . not a lot about the job that was engaging and invigorating . . . hard stuff. So how did he keep going? Maybe I found at least part of the answer in my reading this morning . . .

Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by Your name, O LORD, God of hosts.   (Jeremiah 15:16 ESV)

Though they weren’t popular words . . . though they weren’t easy words to take in and then proclaim . . . they were God’s words.

Jeremiah says God’s words were “found” . . . that they were encountered. In fact, they were delivered. Six times so far in Jeremiah (and another 5 times to follow) Jeremiah records that “the word of the LORD came to me.” Hand delivered to the prophet . . . real time messaging without the need for a texting device . . . the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah . . . and Jeremiah recognized them. God laid them down . . . Jeremiah picked them up. God delivered His word . . . Jeremiah received His word.

And Jeremiah says, “I ate them.” Like food for a hungry man, Jeremiah consumed the words of the LORD. Not because they were pleasant, feel good words . . . but because they were God’s word . . . because Jeremiah was being fed bread from heaven itself . . . because in a land characterized by ears deaf to heaven, God, in His grace, had given Jeremiah ears to hear . . . and so Jeremiah received the words and ingested them. God’s word became Jeremiah’s word . . . the mind of God became more and more the thinking of Jeremiah.

And so God’s word became a joy and the delight of his heart because, in receiving those words, he was reminded that God had called him . . . that God had entered into a holy union with him . . . that God was with him . . . and would not leave him or forsake him.

And I’m thinking why wouldn’t I get just as jazzed or be just as encouraged when I’m doing morning devo’s?

God’s word comes to me . . . and to all who will open His Book. And as I start to interact with these God-breathed words . . . as I start to “find” them . . . a hunger develops. The taste invites me to chew on the words a bit . . . the chewing leads to savoring the flavor . . . the flavor becomes more and more discernible as the indwelling Spirit of God provides illumination. And I find myself ingesting the word. And while sometimes they are words of encouragement . . . and sometimes words of correction . . . the words become a joy and a delight because I realize afresh that they are God’s word . . . that He, in His grace, has desired to engage me in the things of His kingdom . . . that He has called my name!

Every time I open the word there’s an opportunity to be reminded that I have been brought into a relationship with the living God!

And I’m thinking that helps when you’re going against the flow . . . that it provides some encouragement though you’re not invited for lunch . . . that it provides perspective when people “utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on My account” (Matt. 5:11).

O, taste and see that the Lord is good. Eat up!