Title Jeremiah 01:4-10 Past Present Future
Contents
Past Present Future Jer 1:4-10
We misunderstand the word past, and when we say “there is a past”, we think that something unpleasant happened in the past. But no one has a past. I also have a past. Everything you were born, studied, married, and ever lived is the past. Since the past is also related to the present and the present is related to the future, we intend to design a beautiful present and future by illuminating the past through the text.
Remember the past and don't be afraid of the present
How can life be so hard? Now, when you think that you have passed one hurdle, another hurdle creeps in. When I asked if the country's economy was okay, the IMF exploded and scolded me. Not alone. It is difficult to live with the strength of the inside and outside. As Job said, “Life is born for suffering, as sparks fly upward” (5:7).
So, it is true that every day is scary. I am afraid and anxious about the present of today. My confidence disappears as I wonder what event will surprise me today. But couldn't the saints just stay trembling in discouragement and impatience? In times of crisis like this, the saints must have a different image from the people of the world. At this time, the saints must remember God.
In particular, we must remember our God who has been working from the past. So we need a past. Of course, there are many sad and painful memories in the past, so there are probably many people who do not want to think about the past. It is said that a woman was standing by the river crossing to the eternal kingdom. The boatman said that if he wanted to cross the river, he had to choose between drinking and crossing the lake of Lethe or not. When the woman asked what would happen if she drank the water, the sailor said that she would forget the agony of the past. The woman was overjoyed and offered to drink the water. Then, the boatman said instead of forgetting what he was happy about in the past, forgetting what he hated, but forgetting the memories of love, and the experiences of failure but also the memories of success, and the woman refused to drink the water. This story tells us that humans have a past, that they have a past of pain and joy, sorrow and joy, failure and success, and that humans do not want to forget the story of love or success.
Although our members may have many experiences throughout their life of faith, I want to tell them to become members who do not forget all the experiences of the past and remember the grace of God's work in the memories of the past.
Look at the people of Israel. They don't want to remember the past when they were slaves in Egypt again, but Moses teaches them to remember. Jews live by “remember”. In the Old Testament, it is said 300 times to remember and not to forget. Even now, if you go to a museum commemorating the genocide of Jews by a Nazi in Jerusalem, you can see that "We are not driven out as long as we remember".
The first reason is to make them humble by remembering the past so that they can always be prepared. This is not to follow the train of being arrogant, ignorant of needlessly arrogant, ignorant of oneself and of the times, of neighboring countries, yet again being caught up in the vortex of war and becoming a prisoner of war.
The second is to live bravely today by remembering and living the hand of God who rescued and worked in the midst of such suffering, war, slavery and captivity. What kind of nation are we? Even when you were slaves in the past, you became a free citizen by God's grace. How can you become discouraged because there is no work of God in today's adversity and difficulties? It is a word of conviction to live today in the conviction that God, who cared for us in the past, will take responsibility for today, and courageously pioneer the present.
Unfortunately, we in Korea were caught from the first reason to remember, we did not know ourselves and were arrogant for living a little better, but then we met today's economic crisis, and from there we fell into shame, difficulties and frustration. But let's take courage for the second reason. Although we failed in our arrogance, we truly repented of that arrogance and remember God's grace in the past, especially the God who rescued us from our hardships. I believe that you will come back to your country and people.
Let's live the future with the conviction that you have established yourself
Now the saint will have confidence. It is because I am confident that the God who took care of me in the past will protect me today, because I know for sure that he will always take care of me as hymn 410 says. So now you are not afraid of the present over the past. So how about tomorrow? Of course, worrying about tomorrow should be done tomorrow. However, we should think about tomorrow because we are talking about a prepared life and we can live life with hope. There is tomorrow anyway, and even if today's life is difficult and tiring, if there is something beautiful tomorrow and happiness is promised, you can live on today.
As Helen Keller said that hope is the faith that leads to success, if you want to succeed, you need to have hope, and you need a hope for tomorrow, a dream for tomorrow. That hope inspires courage and builds confidence in the future. If you don't think about the future, you're not having fun raising children, doing business, earning money, or studying. Accordingly, we should not worry about the future, but think about the future with a busy view of the future.
So what's our future, and who's guaranteed it? It is God. The God who knew us from the heart, raised us up, and made us his children, promises to take responsibility for the future. You make a promise to us, just as you promised Abraham and Moses that Joshua would be with you. He said that he would be with us even if he did not know how to speak and was like a child.
However, let's gain courage again in front of the Word on this Thanksgiving Day when we met the IMF. He brought us this far as it was in Ebenezer, and the Lord, who was in the furnace of fire, is with us as Emmanuel in this difficult time, and let's live believing that from today to tomorrow, next year, and in the future, He will protect and guarantee us with Jehovah Jireh.