“And do you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not” (Jer. 45:5).

      This beautiful though brief chapter of just five verses is full of instruction for the children of God in all ages, and particularly for any who attempt to serve the Lord in any public capacity.

      Baruch had been an instrument, used of God, to communicate His mind to others. However, his own soul must not be neglected; hence the message given to him in the Scripture above. It is of the greatest moment that those who minister to others be in a right state of soul themselves. Nothing is more dangerous than to go on giving out the truth of God while the heart is set upon self-seeking, or the private life of the servant is accompanied with unholiness and lack of humility before the Lord.

      In Baruch’s case, it would seem that he felt the king’s rejection of the Word of God as an insult aimed at himself and his master, rather than at the Lord who inspired the writing that was in the roll. Perhaps almost unknown to himself, Baruch was seeking a measure of recognition from man. It is so easy to slip into this, especially if one is serving the Lord in the gospel or teaching the children of God. There is the secret desire, often, to be accorded a place, with the corresponding grief when that place is refused and one’s ministry is unacknowledged. Baruch felt the personal slight, the setting at naught, the despising of his ministry—always so hard for a sensitive soul to bear if out of the presence of God. Therefore he fainted and could find no rest.

      But the Lord has been graciously considering his case and had for him a needed word, both of admonition and of comfort. When the times were so evil, it was an especially improper season for self seeking and personal ambition. God was about to bring the then present order of things to an end in judgment, as He will soon bring the age in which we live to a close by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together unto Him. For Baruch it was no time to be troubled because he failed to gain the respect of a people who had so grievously departed from their God.

      But the Lord goes on to give His servant a watchword that may well be kept in mind by all who endeavor in any way to “contend for the faith” (Jude 3). “Do you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not.” This is a good motto for each of us. How apt is the heart to crave “great things”; but in doing so, how unlike the servant becomes to the Master who “pleased not Himself (Rom. 15:3), but could say, “I do always those things that please Him (John 8:29) and “I came not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me” (John 5:30). Does not the position He took when down here determine our only proper one? Do we desire a place where He had none? Far better to be poor and despised here and have His approval than to seek great things for ourselves and lose His smile of approval!

      If tempted to turn aside from the narrow path of subjection to the truth for an easier path, or to be better thought of in a world like this, let us remember these words to Baruch; if “great things” attract and would lure us on, remember the words, “seek them not.”

      (From Milk and Honey, Vol. 21; published by Spread the Word, Inc., Dover, PA.)