Everybody, what is going on? You know what time it is. You're listening to join the Journey podcast with your host, Emma, daughter.

Thanks for joining. Today, we're reading Jeremiah chapters 19 through 21. And as I read, I was reminded of a specific season in my life. When I was in college, I worked at a summer camp.

And at this summer camp, all of the kids got to choose a sports specialty. So they could choose soccer, football, baseball, softball, gymnastics, cheer, dance. Or the oldest kids at camp could choose outdoor sportsmen. And due to some scheduling things, that's what I was assigned to be a counselor for. We called them

coaches. So I was a coach of the outdoor sportsman, which is funny, because these kids would do

things like fire building, archery, orientering, fishing, etc. And in my job as a counselor was to teach

the fifth and sixth graders these skills. And when I was first

assigned to this activity, which was a two-hour block every single day of the week, I was a little

nervous. But by the end of the summer, I'd really gotten the hang of it. And fire building kind of

became my specialty. So when I was in college, if I was with some friends and we're going camping

or whatever, it was like, hey, guys, I got the fire. I'll cook the food. Samores will be ready.

It's no problem because I was just every single day for a whole summer teaching kids how to build

fires. So nowadays, it's like my hidden talent. But why do I start there? Why did these stories come to

mind as I read Jeremiah

19 or 21? Well, in today's reading, there's really two images specifically that stand out in these

chapters. One is the broken flask, which is like a clay jar, and the other is a burning fire in

Jeremiah's bones. Now, these may not seem like they have fire in Jeremiah's bones.

Now, these may not seem like they have much in common at first, but by the end of today's

episode, I hope you'll see how they both help us wrestle with a huge question.

How do we stay faithful to God's calling when obedience is costly and painful?

Let's start with Jeremiah 19. In chapter 19,

God tells Jeremiah to do something symbolic. And if you've been tracking with us through this book,

you know that Jeremiah doesn't just say things, he acts them out. He's God's visual aid for a hard-hearted

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