AMEN
“That I may perform the oath which I have sworn unto your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day. Then answered I, and said, So be it, O LORD.” Jeremiah 11:5
God spoke to Jeremiah and gave him a message for the people of Judah. Jeremiah was to remind God’s people that He had promised them great blessings in the Land of Promise if they would walk in obedience to Him. Jeremiah’s response to the message God gave him was “So be it.” Another word for “so be it” is AMEN. The word amen is found about eighty times in the Bible, more than fifty of those in the New Testament. It generally means “truth, truthfully, trustworthy, so be it.” Jeremiah was confirming, or expressing his agreement with the words of Jehovah.
There are two areas where an AMEN is needed and is appropriate in our lives. First, we are to personally say AMEN to what God says. God’s Word is always true. His promises are true, and His commands are perfect. They will be forever true and righteous, whether we agree with them or not. However, God wants us to affirm in our hearts what He says in His Word. He wants us to agree with what the Bible says. There is a sense in which our AMEN to God’s Word is a personal expression of our agreement and faith in what God says. When we read of the person and work of Christ, our hearts should say AMEN to God’s truth. When we read that we all are sinners, the response of our hearts is to say AMEN, or in other words, to verify that we know it is true.
There are three general responses to truth as it is presented in the pages of Scripture. Some heartily agree in their hearts, others disagree, and then many others have no response. This lack of response has virtually the same result as a negative response. We need to be quick to say, “so be it” to the Word of God. When God says we are to forgive those who offend us, our response should be AMEN. When we read that we are to love one another fervently, we say AMEN. When the Scripture says to be faithful in our church attendance, our hearts say AMEN.
Another place where an AMEN is appropriate and appreciated is in the public worship service. In both the Old and New Testaments, we find listeners saying AMEN to the words of the preacher.
Our AMEN not only agrees with God, it also lets others know that we affirm what God says.