NOVEMBER 25 "ONE OF THE MANY..."

Nobody ever realizes that in the great story of a great young man, Jeremiah, God has another great story of another great young man, whom we know as Daniel. As we read the book of Jeremiah we are caught up in all his exploits (“my people shall know me and they shall do great exploits” [ironically we read this in the Book of Daniel]. While Jeremiah is doing his great exploits, Daniel is in the background, being fashioned by God, for phase II, of His great plan. We get so consumed with our little world and churches and Christians begin to see Christianity through their own little world and experience.  In essence, we box God up.  We claim, “this is where it’s at, this is where it’s happening”, but yet as we read the Bible we see God’s plans and purpose are vast and include many others and are far beyond us and light years ahead of us. God is not limited to one man/woman or any one particular group of people. Think of it, in this large and grand scheme, God is working through Jeremiah, all the while, priming up Daniel in the background and in the midst of all that, using an evil ruler as Nebuchadnezzar, all this to fulfill His purposes. That’s pretty awesome! As Israel goes into captivity, just as Jeremiah prophesied, God begins phase II of his plan, and brings Daniel to the forefront of what He is doing.  Daniel becomes the Kings most prized and chosen servant. Daniel, who serves the God of Israel becomes the chosen servant of a pagan King. Who would have ever have imagined that? The Bible clearly records that it is God that has given Daniel favor with this heathen King.  Daniel is going to be the key figure when Israel returns to their land, not Jeremiah. We ought to thank God that He uses us in any capacity, that somehow He has included us in His large network of people that He moves and works through; all at the same time, remaining cognizant of the fact, that we are one of many and that ought to keep us humble. Our church…..is one of many….our outreach program…..is one of many…..our witness…..is one of many…..our Christmas program….is one of many……our witness…..is one of many……we are one of many and we should just be glad and thankful, that we are ONE of the MANY.

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