We are skillful at the art of making excuses,

‘I don’t know ‘I didn’t Understand”

how”
‘I have a Doctor’s Appointment”
‘I have a relative coming” ‘I woke up late”
‘I’m sick” ‘I have a toothache”
‘maybe next time”
 In Christian world, we can find all sorts of
excuses not to obey God’s voice.

“It’s the preacher’s job.’, “It’s not my gift.’ I’ve

already served, let someone else do it.
“I’m too busy or too tired or too old or too
young”
It has been said, Excuses are tools of the
incompetent, and those who specialize in
them seldom go far.

“He that is good for making

excuses is seldom good for
anything else’ –Benjamin Franklin
“He who excuses himself, accuses
himself–Gabriel Meurier

Jeremiah had every excuse ready when God

called him to be a prophet. His excuses are
often our excuses for not heading God’s voice
when he calls.
 Who is Jeremiah?
 Hebrew word “ God is High”
“weeping prophet”
He was one of the Major Prophets

According to Jewish Tradition;

He Authored the book of;
Jeremiah, Kings and book of
Lamentations
  He was born on 650 BC
 He was died on 570 BC
 Parent: Hilkiah ( a priest)

Jeremiah was a man called to

be a prophet to deliver God’s
message to Judah (before, during
and after its fall to Babylon in 586
B.C.).
These prophecies included
messages of warning and hope.
Many of Jeremiah’s prophecies
 Jeremiah saw a visions of "a
branch of an almond tree"
(verses 11–12) and then a
vision of "a boiling pot tilt
away from the north" (verses
13–16).
The Excuse
1.The Task is Demanding
A prophet was a chosen and authorized
spokesman for God who declared God’s Word to the
people.
We often think of prophets as people who can
tell the future. But a prophet spoke messages to the
present that had future ramifications.
The Excuse
1.The Task is Demanding
Being a prophet was more demanding than
serving as a priest. The priests‟ duties were
predictable, everything is written down in the law.
Priests ministered primarily to individuals with
various needs. Prophets, on the other hand, addressed
whole nations, and usually, the people they addressed
didnt want to hear the message.
The Excuse
1.The Task is Demanding
Prophets had no guaranteed income
Jesus, too, was called to be a prophet. He
traveled from place to place challenging the
people to change so that their future in
heaven would be guaranteed. Jesus spoke to
the hearts of people. Most did not accept his
message of repentance, for they did not want
to change.
The Excuse
2.My Talent is Inadequate
“But I protested, Oh no, Lord, GOD!
Look,
I don‟t know how to speak since I am only
a youth‟” (Jer. 1:6).
Jeremiah felt inadequate as a public
speaker. By the way, this excuse was
shared by Moses (Ex. 4:10).
The Excuse
2.My Talent is Inadequate
God has a way to overcome weakness
and our insufficiencies.
The person most aware of his own
inadequacy is usually the person most
dependent on Gods all-sufficiency.
Our inadequacy caused us to rely upon
God
The Excuse
2.My Talent is Inadequate

Our inadequacy caused us to rely

upon God. His strength is made
perfect by our weakness. His glory
is manifested by our flaws
The Excuse
3. The Time is not right
Jeremiah said to God, “I am only a youth” (Jer.
1:6).  ordinarily denotes a young
 unmarried man in his teens or early
twenties

Most scholars think that Jeremiah was

around 20 to 25 at the time of his call.
The Excuse
3. The Time is not right
Jeremiah said to God, “I am only a youth” (Jer.
1:6).
He felt inferior, inexperienced, and
intimidated by the size of the task to
which God was summoning him.
The Excuse
4. The Teaching is Dangerous
The Lord did not give Jeremiah a
joyful message of deliverance to
announce, but a tragic message of
judgment.
 He is
 Misunderstood
Persecuted
 Arrested
 Imprisoned
The Excuse
4. The Teaching is Dangerous
 More than once his
life was threatened.

The people did not want to hear the

truth.
The Excuse
4. The Teaching is Dangerous
He saw a boiling Pot,
with lip tilted from the
North to the South (Jer.
1:13)
It can spew at any
moment, scalding the
people of Judah
The Excuse
4. The Teaching is Dangerous
It represented the nation
of Babylon that would
invade and conquer
Israel.
 Israel’s Idolatry
 Rebellion against
God’s righteous will
The Excuse
4. The Teaching is Dangerous
Jesus teaching
contained mercy and
judgement, grace and
punishment.
It is dangerous too, in
fact it was His teaching
that cost him his life.
The Excuse
5. Do I have to go now?
God was expecting
immediate action from
Jeremiah. God said, “Now,
get ready.
Stand up and tell them
everything that I command
you” (Jer. 1:17)
The Excuse
5. Do I have to go now?
In Jeremiah’s day the men had to tie
their loose robes together with a belt in
order to run or to work.
God called Jeremiah to act. He was
called to move out among people. He was
called to deliver an offensive message. He
would not be welcomed, nor would he be
accepted. He would anger his hearers.
 Fear prevents many Christians from doing what they
could – and what God calls us to do.
Fear is the result of looking to ourselves instead of God.
Fear, more than anything else, prevents God’s people
from doing the things God wants them to do.
Satan makes them afraid and they begin to think of all the
excuses.
We are not called to
work for God, we are called to
work with God. He will be with
us in all that we do for Him –
even to the end of the world. The
promise Jesus gave to His
disciples “lo I am with you
always” is dependent on their
going “into all the world” 
and preaching the
gospel
The Promise
1. The Task is Demanding
God may assign us a demanding task, but his call keeps us
going when we don’t want to go and are ready to quit. We have
the promise of God’s purpose. “I chose you before I formed
you in the womb; I set you apart before you were born’ (Jer.
1:5).
GOD IS AWARE
God knew Jeremiah, chose Jeremiah, and appointed
Jeremiah. He was known by name, hand-picked by God, and
commissioned to serve
The Promise
1. The Task is Demanding
Those acts give one a great sense of
purpose.
The promise of God‟s purpose allows us to
let go of our own plans and to receive
God‟s plan without fear.
Like Jeremiah and Jesus, we need to
accept that our future is not our own.
We are God’s.
He has a distinct plan and purpose for our
lives.
The Promise
2. My Talent is inadequate

Our talent may appear

inadequate, but God
always equips those he
calls. We have the
promise of God‟s
provision.
The Promise
2. My Talent is inadequate
God blesses not the silver-tongued orator, but the
one whose tongue has been touched with coals from
the altar. God uses not the most gifted and talented
person, but the one touched by the hand of God.
God uses the most unlikely persons to shake a
church or a community or a nation. Never
underestimate the power of the touch; especially
when God does the touching.
The Promise
3. The Time is not right
God’s call may come at
an inopportune time, but he
never sends forth his
servant alone.
We have the promise of
God’s presence.

We know we do not have to walk the lonesome road alone,

that we have a traveling companion.
The Promise
4. The Teaching is dangerous
What God says through us may be
dangerous, but God gives us the strength to
endure.
We have the promise of God‟s
prevailing.
The Promise
5. Do I have to go now?

God expects obedience,

immediately, if we don’t, we are in
danger of God’s wrath. We have the
promise of God’s power.
“Do not be intimidated by them or
I will cause you to cower before
them” (Jer. 1:17).
The Promise
5. Do I have to go now?

Immediate obedience is the only appropriate response when

God calls.

Jesus obeyed. Whatever you think of Jesus, remember this,

his heart was a willing and obedient heart. He always did what
his Father directed. There was no hesitation, no questioning,
no circumventing. Only immediate action.
The Promise Then he will fulfill his purpose in
Has God called you? you, he will equip you, he will
enable you, he will protect you, he
will accompany you
Are you obeying His
command? Then he is with you to protect
you
Are you sharing the word?
Then He will accomplish His purposes no matter
how people respond
 The Lord has a great work for us to do, and He invites us to look
to Him, to trust in Him, to walk with Him, to talk with Him.

He invites us to make an unreserved surrender of all that we have

and are to Him, that when He shall call upon us to sacrifice for Him,
we may be ready and willing to obey

Each day, under different circumstances, He tries us; and in each

truehearted endeavor He chooses His workers, not because they are
perfect, but because they are willing to work unselfishly for Him, and
He sees that through connection with Him they may gain perfection. 4
The Youth's Instructor, June 6, 1901.
What will be your