April 24 (Jeremiah 36:17-18)
Then they asked Baruch, “Tell us, please,
how did you write all these words? Was it at his dictation?” Baruch answered them, “He
dictated all these words to me, while
I wrote them with ink on the scroll.” (ESV)
Do
you ever laugh at things you read in the Bible?
This is one of the more amusing passages for me. Baruch is the scribe for the prophet Jeremiah
and after he delivers Jeremiah’s words to the king’s officials, they ask how he
came to write them down, and his response is as simple as it gets. “Well, Jeremiah spoke, and I took out ink and
scroll and started writing.” I have to
believe that Baruch was thinking, “How else do you think it happened?”
Human
beings are odd creatures. We try to explain
away with natural explanations the miracles and mysteries of God and we look
for the strange and the supernatural in the most mundane affairs. Yes, God spoke to Moses through a burning
bush, but He also spoke through a guy who just sat taking dictation from his
friend.
I
love elegant, leather-bound books, but notes from students scribbled in pencil
have touched me deeply. Don’t overlook
the simple, everyday means that God uses to speak to you.
Father, You richly and lovingly speak to us through Your holy words that form our Bible and through direct encounters with Your Holy Spirit. You also, through the Spirit, inspire others to speak into our lives words of support, encouragement, direction, rebuke, and edification. May we miss nothing that You say, even when it comes through the humblest of means. In the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, amen.
Copyright © 2016 by Steven R. Perkins
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