Are You Seeking Great Things For Yourself?

Are You Seeking Great Things
For Yourself?

By Jon W. Quinn

It may have been that he could have served
in some prestigious governmental position. His
brother was an officer in the king's court. He
was of a prominent family. With a little
ambition and drive, he could have really gone
places, as long as he would not allow anything
to stand in his way.
But, there was something standing in his
way. It was his duty and loyalty to God. He had
made the same choice that Moses had made
eight centuries before; “By faith Moses, when
he had grown up, refused to be called the son
of Pharaoh's daughter; choosing rather to
endure ill-treatment with the people of God,
than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin;
considering the reproach of Christ greater
riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was
looking to the reward.” (Hebrews 11:24-26).

Background

“This was the message which Jeremiah the
prophet spoke to Baruch the son of Neriah,
when he had written down these words in a
book at Jeremiah's dictation, in the fourth year
of Jehoikim the son of Josiah, king of Judah,
saying...” (Jeremiah 45:1).
Our mystery guest is Baruch. Baruch is not
an extremely well known Bible character, but
he is the one being described in the first two
paragraphs. He was like Moses in the sense
that he, too, passed by a promising career to
occupy what, by the world's standards at least,
was a much lower position. Instead of serving
along side his brother on the king's court, he
had become the scribe of a prophet who was
unpopular with the leaders of the land. Thus,
his promising career had gone nowhere fast,
and from all appearances, that was precisely
where it would end up.
Baruch was Jeremiah's scribe. As such, it
had been Baruch who had penned the
prophecies of doom for the apostate nation
and their wicked leaders. His city, its temple,
its people; all he held dear were facing
catastrophic ruin. The very words he had
written were hated by the leadership and
unpopular with the people. All his own
personal aspirations had been cast aside, and
now he was in hiding with Jeremiah under
threat of execution by the evil king Jehoikim.
He had stood for what was right, and now the
question had crossed his mind as to whether it
had all been worth it.

Why Is This Happening to Me?

“Thus says the Lord the God of Israel to
you, O Baruch: You say, 'Ah, woe is me! For
the Lord has added sorrow to my pain; I am
weary with my groaning and have found no
rest.” (Jeremiah 45:2,3).
Many times there are huge costs to pay for
faithfully serving the Lord. Many times it
means taking stands which are unpopular. It
may mean facing ridicule. It may mean
ostracism. It may mean being treated unfairly.
It may call for sacrifice of material things and
the goodwill of man in order to have the
approval of God (John 12:42,43). Many are
unwilling to pay the costs. Are you? Or will you
make the compromises the world expects you
to make to avoid paying the costs? Will you
refrain from speaking the truth or taking a
stand for right when it may prove too costly in
terms of losing the world's approval?
Baruch had been willing to serve, but had
become discouraged and had begun to
question his decision. As he contemplated the
losses he had endured, he wondered if it had
been worth it. There seemed no relief in sight.
Somewhere along the way, Baruch had lost
something that is very important to every child
of God; a simple, trusting confidence that
yields peace even during the roughest storms
of life. That was what he needed to find once
again (Philippians 4:4-8).
If such questions should arise within us
during trials as arose in Baruch, then let us
remember our assurance in Christ Jesus;
“Therefore, do not throw away your
confidence, which has great reward. For you
have need of endurance, so that when you
have done the will of God, you may receive
what was promised. 'For yet in a very little
while, He who is coming will come and will not
delay. But My righteous one shall live by faith;
and if he shrinks back, My soul has no delight
in him.' For we are not of those who shrink
back to destruction, but of those who have
faith to the preserving of the soul.” (Hebrews
10:35-39).

The Lord's Answer to Baruch

“Thus you shall say to him, 'Thus says the
LORD, “Behold, what I have built I am about to
tear down, and what I have planted I am about
to uproot, that is, the whole land. But you, are
you seeking great things for yourself? Do not
seek them; for behold, I am going to bring
disaster on all flesh,” declares the LORD, “but I
will give your life to you as booty in all the
places you may go.” (Jeremiah 45:4,5).
Baruch was grieved over “what might have
been” but the Lord was grieved over losing
what already was; the nation of Israel. He had
built the nation, cared for it and provided for
it. Now, He was going to destroy it. Who was it
that was suffering the greatest loss? God or
Baruch?
What have you or I sacrificed that
compares to God's sacrifice in our behalf.?
“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your
sakes He became poor, that you through His
poverty might become rich.” (2 Corinthians
8:9).  God loved us to the extent that He “gave
His only begotten Son” for the world. The Son's
anguished cry, “My God, My God, why hast
Thou forsaken Me?” reminds us of the extent
of that sacrifice for our sins.  How can we not
allow the love of Christ” to constrain us to
serve the Lord?
They say be careful what you ask for, you
may get it. If Baruch could have gone back in
time and chosen over again, would he really
want to choose differently?  The Lord asked
him, “But you, are you seeking great things for
yourself?” Would he really have wanted to be
in a high place on evil Jehoikim's court? A
leader of faithless men? A member of the
apostate government? Loved by the wicked?
Enriched by his position which had been
gained by disloyalty to Jehovah God?
The Lord invited Baruch to think again.
Those men in high places were about to be
brought down to horrible destruction. The
wages of their sins was coming due. Disaster
was coming, and far better to be as far as
possible from those places of prestige and
power. Jerusalem was soon to be judged for its
apostasy.
Baruch would escape the coming
conflagration with his life. That was far better
than the outcome for most of those in high
places. It is the same for those who live by
faith today. Do not aspire to greatness at the
expense of loyalty to God. The weak and poor
who are faithful will have a much better
outcome than those who are great in the
world's eyes but have failed to render to the
Lord His due. “What will a man be profited if
he gains the hold world and forfeits his own
soul?”
The final outcome? Baruch overcame his
doubt and stayed by Jeremiah's side. He
continued to faithfully serve the Lord, and
faced further trials in the following years. He
saw the judgment come and those he had, for
a moment, thought he would have liked to
switch places with go down into horrible
destruction. He won the victory over his
doubts and in later passages we find no hint of
his ever faltering again.

Recently, archaeologists were excited to
find in Israel some signet rings used to seal
written documents. What made these finds
particularly interesting was who the rings
belonged to. They were Baruch's, no doubt
used by him to seal some of the very
documents that now make up the book of
Jeremiah. If you aspire to greatness, let it not
be greatness by the world's standards, but by
God's (Matthew 20:25-28).

Reprinted From the Bradley
Banner
Bradley Church of Christ
Bradley, Illinois
September 22, 1996