“Before You Were Born I Consecrated You”
Jeremiah 1: 4-10
Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.” But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the Lord.” Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.”
For reflection and journaling
- What feeling, sensation or thought arises in you as you hear the call of Jeremiah? How is God speaking to or calling you through what arises within? (This doesn’t necessarily need to be to a specific action or state of life—marriage, religious life, single life, a new job, etc. It may also be to a “way of being,” such as to be open to God, to be thankful or to practice “letting go.”)
- Do you notice ways that you resist hearing God’s voice? What does God say to your resistance?
I Corinthians 12: 4-20, 27-31
There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.
Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines. Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.
Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body…
Now you are the Body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? Now eagerly desire the greater gifts.
For reflection and journaling
- Paul says that “to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.” Theologian Frederick Beuchner puts it this way: “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” What is your “deep gladness”? (In other words, what brings you deep joy? What are your passions?) How do you feel called to give your life away to “the common good,” “the world’s deep hunger”? How might your “deep gladness” and “the world’s deep hunger meet?”
LEAVE US A COMMENT OR QUESTION
"*" indicates required fields