May the mumbling commence!
Do you feel at home in the nation you live in? Or do you feel like an exile? Are you yearning for the peace and prosperity
of the Kingdom of the Lord?
If so, don’t despair.
Pray and work for the prosperity of the nation you live in. Settle in.
Watch and wait for the oncoming of the Kingdom. It’s surer than the sunrise. Read from Jeremiah chapter twenty-nine:
The Lord
Almighty, the God of Israel, sends this message to all the captives he has
exiled to Babylon from Jerusalem: "Build homes,
and plan to stay. Plant gardens, and eat the food you produce. Marry, and have children. Then find spouses
for them, and have many grandchildren. Multiply! Do not dwindle
away! And work for the peace and prosperity of Babylon. Pray to the Lord for that city where you are held captive, for if Babylon
has peace, so will you."
The Lord
Almighty, the God of Israel, says, "Do not let the prophets and mediums
who are there in Babylon trick you. Do not listen to their dreams because they
prophesy lies in my name. I have not sent them," says the Lord.
"The truth is that you will be
in Babylon for seventy years. But
then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I will bring you home again. For I know the plans I have for you,"
says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to
give you a future and a hope.” (Verses 4-11)
Our peace is wrapped up in the peace of the world in
which we live. What more proof do you
need that peace and justice are forever bound together? So work for peace wherever God has planted
you. Work for justice wherever God has planted
you.
And pray. Pray
for peace. Pray for divine wisdom to
define and execute justice. We can trust
the Lord in this. God’s plans for us are
for our eternal good… plans that give us a future and a hope.
What does that hope look like? Jeremiah gives us a peek at that hope in chapter
thirty-one:
"The
day will come," says the Lord, "when
I will make a new covenant with the
people of Israel and Judah. This covenant
will not be like the one I made with
their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land
of Egypt. They broke that covenant,
though I loved them as a husband loves his wife," says the Lord.
“But
this is the new covenant I will make
with the people of Israel on that day," says the Lord. "I will put my laws in their minds, and I will write
them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. And they will not need to teach their
neighbors, nor will they need to teach their family, saying, 'You should know
the Lord.' For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will already know me,"
says the Lord. "And I
will forgive their wickedness and will never again remember their sins."
(Verses 31-34)
We got God’s Word on our minds. It’s written on our hearts. Through this Word, we will know God. And forgiveness of our many sins is forgiven.
What is this new covenant? Who brought it into being? The answer is Jesus. Jesus is our new covenant with God. Let us give thanks!
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
No comments:
Post a Comment