Jeremiah 1:1-5: a reflection

1The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, one of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin. 2The LORD’s word came to him in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. 3It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, to the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, to the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month. 4Now the LORD’s word came to me, saying, 5“Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I sanctified you. I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

When God calls Jeremiah to be a prophet, he begins with words of astonishing intimacy: Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you a prophet to the nations. God's knowledge of Jeremiah, and his purpose for him, did not begin at Jeremiah's birth or his calling; it reached back before Jeremiah existed. God knew him, set him apart, and had a purpose for him, before he was ever formed in the womb.

Notice the reach of God's knowing: before you were formed in the womb, I knew you. God's intimate knowledge of Jeremiah preceded his very existence. Before Jeremiah was anyone, before he had done anything, God knew him, had set him apart, had a purpose for him. This was not knowledge Jeremiah earned or a purpose he achieved; it was God's, from before he existed. God knew and purposed him before he was born.

That astonishing truth is not for Jeremiah alone. God's intimate knowledge of us, and his purpose for us, reach back before our existence. Before you were formed, God knew you; before you were born, he had purposes for you. You are not an accident, not unknown, not without purpose; you are known, from before your beginning, by a God who formed you and has purposes for you. When you wonder whether you are truly known, or whether your life has purpose, remember God's word to Jeremiah. The God who knew you before you were born knows you now, intimately and fully, and has purposes for your life. You are known, and you are not without purpose; rest in being fully known by the God who knew you before you existed.

Lord, you told Jeremiah, before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I set you apart. Thank you that your knowledge of me, and your purpose for me, reach back before my existence. Before I was anyone, before I had done anything, you knew me and had purposes for me. When I wonder whether I am truly known, or whether my life has purpose, remind me of your word to Jeremiah. You knew me before I was born, and you know me now, intimately and fully; I am not an accident, not unknown, not without purpose. Help me rest in being fully known by the God who knew me before I existed, and to trust that you have purposes for my life. Thank you that I am known, and loved, from before my beginning.