I Won't --No I Can't Keep Quiet

Jeremiah 20

7 O LORD, you misled me,
and I allowed myself to be misled.
You are stronger than I am,
and you overpowered me.
Now I am mocked every day;
everyone laughs at me.
8 When I speak, the words burst out.
“Violence and destruction!” I shout.
So these messages from the LORD
have made me a household joke.
9 But 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 worn out trying to hold it in!
I can’t do it!

Jeremiah 20, verse 9 is an oft quoted or at least oft partially quoted verse. But I want to keep it in context today. Jeremiah is complaining to God about the harsh treatment he gets every time he speaks out for the LORD. Jeremiah gets whipped, imprisoned, and his life is threatened on a regular basis. But, even in the midst of his complaint to God, Jeremiah proclaims that he is unable to keep from speaking what God would have him say! May my heart burn and my bones feel like a fire if I should dare to stop proclaiming His Word to this adulteress generation in America. Christians have sat passively by for far too long ignoring God’s clear commands to be salt and light. I pray that those of us who claim to follow Christ will behave like we are following Christ.