Fire in My Bones
In the manual: Come, Follow Me lesson 43, “Before I Formed Thee in the Belly I Knew Thee,” on Gospel Library
Start
Jeremiah once decided to quit. He told himself he would never speak in the Lord’s name again (Jeremiah 20:9).
Read Together
A priest named Pashur had Jeremiah beaten and locked overnight in the stocks by a temple gate (Jeremiah 20:1–3). People mocked him every day (Jeremiah 20:7–8).
9Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.
11But the Lord is with me as a mighty terrible one: therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail: they shall be greatly ashamed; for they shall not prosper: their everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten.
What It Teaches
He could not keep quiet for long. “His word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.” To forbear is to hold back. Holding back the Lord’s word wore him out.
Two disciples felt a fire like that on the evening Jesus rose from the dead. After he walked with them and opened the scriptures to them, they said, “Did not our heart burn within us?” (Luke 24:32). In our day the Lord told Oliver Cowdery that when something was right, he would cause Oliver’s bosom to burn within him (Doctrine and Covenants 9:8).
Verse 11 shows where Jeremiah’s courage came from. “The Lord is with me as a mighty terrible one.” Here terrible means awesome and strong. Two verses later he is singing praise (Jeremiah 20:13).
Right after that, in verse 14, he is low again. Even prophets have hard days. The fire stayed with him through all of them.
Talk About It
When have you felt the Spirit burn in your heart about the Savior or the scriptures? What do you know is true that you could share at church today?
Take to Church
Jeremiah tried to keep quiet, and the Lord’s word burned like fire in his bones. A testimony grows stronger when we share it.