June 17, 2016

BLOOMING WHERE WE ARE PLANTED

Jeremiah 36:5-7

Build houses and dwell in them. Plant gardens and eat their fruit. Take wives and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands; and be multiplied and not diminished. Seek the peace of the land into which I carried you captive. Pray to the Lord for them, for in its peace you shall have peace.

Encouraging Words

I love how much of the Old Testament is an image of New Testament times. As Christians, we are exiled in a land that is not our own. We are ambassadors here waiting to be called to our real home. But until that time, just as the people of Israel were told by Jeremiah to be productive citizens in the lands that they were exiled to, we are told to be productive citizens where we are placed. We are to be lights of love, joy, and peace and not beacons of gloom and doom. We are to be encouraging and pointing those around us to the promise of a better kingdom and not people that tear others down. We do have a promised land that we are headed to, but are also recipients of the promise of life today. Glory be to God!