Stand at attention!

Stand at attention!
As I started to read the book of the prophet Jeremiah this morning I was struck by the simple fact stated in the first verses about the word of God coming to the prophet. God's Message began to come to him during the reign of one king. It continued to come to him during the reign of the next king. And it continued to come to him during the third king! What a man of God! He was faithfully serving God as his mouth during the reign of three kings! I wonder how that could happen?
Well, Jeremiah quickly explains how God called him and commissioned him for his ministry by reminding him that he was chosen before he was born to be a prophet to the nations. Then God touched him and put his words in his mouth and told him to speak it boldly!
Jeremiah was very young when he had this encounter with God. He felt like a boy, unfit for such a high calling. But God told him something that was to become the key to the success of his ministry:
Stand at attention while I prepare you for work!
This is the key to any successful ministry: To stand at attention and allow God to prepare us. When we listen to God attentively the words of God are transforming us. We are not only receiving words to pass on to others but the words of God penetrate our innermost being and changes us. When we have allowed the word of God to work in us we will be used by God to speak his transforming word to peoples and nations!
Stand at attention while God prepare you for work!