The place of the preacher is a precarious one. On the one hand Scripture tells us:

Is not my word like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? (Jeremiah 23:29)

And we have the privilege of presenting this word to God’s people. On the other hand God’s anger burns against those who speak their own words:

They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD. (Jeremiah 23:16)

God’s judgement came on those who abused the privilege of speaking for God by speaking their own words. It is the most wonderful blessing to wait on God and to pass on to his people what he has given to us, but it is the most fearful prospect to dare to speak our words whilst saying ‘thus says the Lord’.

May we seek to hear and to speak only those words ‘of fire’ that challenge and change our lives for God’s glory.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 9th, 2003 at 11:00 pm and is filed under Devotional. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.