Jan 18 - Jeremiah 20:9

I can't stop!

If I say I'll never mention the LORD

or speak in his name, his word

burns in my heart like a fire.

It's like a fire in my bones!

I am weary of holding it in!

Jeremiah 20:9

Jeremiah is like a volcano.

He’s about to explode.

The lava coursing through his body is the Word of God – a scorching, but purifying, fire. Listen to the context …

God planted his word in the prophet. The Lord asked Jeremiah to speak. And Jeremiah cries, “7 O LORD, you persuaded me, and I allowed myself to be persuaded. … Now I am mocked by everyone in the city.”

Prophets have a hard job. Usually God shows up prophetically when someone needs corrected. Jeremiah’s message was to shout “8 Violence and destruction!” And this message was not received kindly. Rather he was “7 mocked by everyone in the city.”

Jeremiah says, “8 Whenever I speak, the words come out in a violent outburst.” He cannot contain the volcano, and “the messages from the LORD,” he says, “have made me a household joke.”

“9 [But] I can't stop!” says Jeremiah, “If I say I'll never mention the LORD or speak in his name, his word burns in my heart like a fire. It's like a fire in my bones!” Do you hear the rumblings of a volcano?

I pray that the Word of God burns in you. I pray that like Isaiah, “[you are] weary of holding it in!” I pray that you’ll say, “’I can’t stop!’ I can’t help it. I’ll explode if I try and hold it in.”

In Christ’s Love,

a guy who wants heartburn

(or at least wants the Word

to burn more brightly in my heart)