Valentines Day

While she is standing there shocked and devastated by this realisation a nurse passes her by and says something to her.

Jeremiah 50:1-46

Reference:  v.2  "Announce and proclaim among the nations, lift up a banner and proclaim it; keep nothing back…" (NIV Bible)

Explore:  A month ago or so I went to the movies with my mother-in-law.  Neither of us had seen the movie Valentines Day so we decided to give it a go.  It was just my cup of tea and we both laughed and sighed along with the storyline.  The only problem I had with the film was there was one point in the movie where one of the characters discovers that her boyfriend is cheating on her.  While she is standing there shocked and devastated by this realisation a nurse passes her by and says something to her.  As soon as the nurse had finished the sentence I realised that I had not understood what she had said.  As I leant over to ask my mother-in-law for clarity, I heard all these other murmurings throughout the whole cinema.  It seems that I was not the only person that had not picked up on this line.  The movie continued on and it didn't seem that we had missed out on too much by not hearing that one line, but it was still frustrating to not know what was said.  We couldn't rewind the tape and we certainly couldn't stand up in the darkened cinema and ask if anyone had actually understood the line and so we were left without knowing.  The nurse had only had one line in the whole movie and we were all left wondering what it was she was trying to say.

Application:  When it comes to speaking up we can be a bit selective about raising our voice.  When we have been unjustly treated then we will share our opinions and express our hurt.  However, when in comes to sharing our opinion about faith we suddenly decide to sit back and let other people have the opportunity to share.  There are times when we have the chance to speak up and share our thoughts on God but we suddenly become like the nurse in the movie Valentines Day and no one can really hear what we are saying.  When Jeremiah was given a word from God he was asked to proclaim it loudly, even if the message was not what the people wanted to hear.  In general conversation there are times when we have the opportunity to speak up for God.  Are we obedient and 'announce and proclaim' our faith or do we step back and let the moment pass? Whether you are a prophet or someone who has just started their relationship with God, we all have a chance to share our thoughts on faith.  We don't have to claim we have all the answers, we just need to share our personal experience. When we are open and honest we might be surprised to hear how the listeners respond.

Prayer:  Lord, forgive us when we hold back speaking about You.  We pray for an opportunity this week where we can announce and proclaim Your name to the people we meet.  Amen.

What would you say if someone asked you about your opinion of God?