Jeremiah 15:16 (NLT) When I discovered your words, I devoured them. They are my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies.

Jeremiah, known as the weeping prophet, had a very difficult and depressing task in his life. He was called at a young age to serve the Lord and to be His mouthpiece at a very difficult time. God selected Jeremiah to represent Him and deliver warnings to the people of Judah about the coming judgement for their many sins, which included serving foreign gods that were really no gods at all. The Lord, since He knows all things, told him upfront that the people would not listen to him at all. I think about that a lot. I think about how I would handle knowing that all of my preaching would be for naught because no one would listen. That is not a very comforting thought at all. But Jeremiah was faithful to do what the Lord asked him to do and to deliver all the warnings that the Lord told him to tell the people, even though it put him in grave danger. The people hated Jeremiah because they didn't want to hear his messages. They were too busy enjoying their sin and they wanted to silence this man who was interfering with their revelry and their lewd behavior. They wanted him dead. In the midst of his weeping and his heart-pain because of the people's hate towards him, he prayed the words above, expressing deep feelings about the Word of God.

Even though the Word of God caused Jeremiah to be hated and even though it put his life in danger and eventually caused him to be put in prison, he expressed his joy about the Word, even talking about devouring them to get them into his heart. The Word of God was so precious to Jeremiah that he was joyful about it even in the middle of great turmoil in his life because of it. Today, we also have God's Word but many do not cherish it as Jeremiah did. In this country, having the Word and even proclaiming God's Word does not cost us anything. There may be a few people here and there who express their anger at us for believing what we believe but for the most part, we have it easy compared to so many in other parts of the world and compared with Jeremiah. Oh that we would cherish the Word, devour it and get it into our hearts so that it would fill us with joy and with a resolve to serve and love the Lord Jesus with all of our heart and soul. It is then that we truly experience life to the full as Jesus promised us.

Delight yourself in the Lord and in His Word. This life is short and full of strife many times and it is the love of Jesus, along with His Word and the power of the Holy Spirit that will help us through our journey here on earth and that will escort us into eternity to be with the Lord forevermore.

Pastor Joey Vazquez