The Preacher's Kid Who Was Called

I am a preacher's kid as are some of you. I have heard all the jokes about our particular subculture. If preacher's kids are the meanest kids in town it is simply because they run with the deacon's kids. I was six weeks old before my sin nature kicked in and that was only because my mother put me in the church nursery in a baby bed beside a deacon's baby.

Jeremiah was the son of a preacher. His father was Hilkiah. There were no deacons in those days so Jeremiah got a good start on life. He was called by his heavenly Father to not only follow in his earthly father's footsteps, but to become a voice for all his people.

I. A Personal Call (vs. 4)

Jeremiah was certain of his call. It did not come from his father. It did not come from his mother. It did not come from the tribe of Levi. It was a personal, distinct, no-doubt-about-it call from God. Can you remember when God's call was branded in your heart? Can you echo Jeremiah's words, "Then the word of the LORD came to me . . . "? How difficult it must be to stand on Sundays and preach when you have never been personally called to proclaim the unsearchable riches of Christ. It must be equally painful for those who sit and listen. Charles Spurgeon said concerning the call of the minister, " He that can toy with his ministry and count it to be like a trade, or like any other profession, was never called of God. But he that has a charge pressing on his heart, and a woe ringing in his ear, and preaches as though he heard the cries of hell behind him, and saw his God looking down on him-oh, how that man entreats the Lord that his hearers may not hear in vain!" (Spurgeon At His Best, pg. 127, Tom Carter).

II. A Predestined Call (vs. 5)

Here was one preacher's kid whose [call] was conceived in the courts of heaven before he was conceived in the land of Benjamin. God told Jeremiah, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you and ordained you a prophet to the nations." The "Befores" of the Bible are most significant. Exodus 13: 22, reminds us that God never with draws His blessings from His people, "He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night from before the people." Psalm 100:2, gives the perfect order of worship for a Thanksgiving service, "Come before His presence with singing . . . " Isaiah 43:13, reminds us of the sovereignty of almighty God, "Indeed before the day was, I am He . . . "

The Apostle Paul said concerning the [call] of God upon his life, " . . . forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are before, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward [call] of God in Christ Jesus," Philippians 3:13-14.