 |
| Rebuild the Wall - Rebuild your life |
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. Jeremiah 29:11
God made this promise to the Hebrew people
while they were captive in Babylon—to bring them home to Israel and to restore
their lives. A lot of Christians today use this scripture to remind each other
of the hope that we all have
today…and in our future. We can see how God worked in the lives of the Hebrew
people in Babylon—after 400 years He brought them back home. Of course, we need
to remind ourselves of why they were
in Babylon in the first place—disobedience. It was a punishment for them to be
taken captive to Babylon. After they had paid their dues—served their time so
to speak—God brought them back to the Promised Land and instructed them to
rebuild the Temple, the wall around the city of Jerusalem and their lives.
Rebuilding their lives. That was important. They needed to focus on God. He was
the source of their hope. Could they
see that? So many of them over the generations had lost their vision. Did some
of the Israelites ever have a vision of who God was and what He wanted them to
do? Relationship and Obedience. I think those are the key words. The words that
foster and encourage hope. God
promised that He had plans for them for a future…a future with Him. A
relationship with Him in the Promised Land. A land that He had promised to
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. A land that He had brought the children of
Israel—those descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—out of bondage in Egypt to
a territory flowing with milk and honey. A land where God expected them to
worship Him, not idols. A land where obedience and respect were necessary. When
that didn’t happen, God lost hope in His people and banished them to Babylon.
Then it was time to start again. God had plans for them that included His
promise of hope.
Do you see God working in your life today?
Do you see a picture of you and God together that includes hope?
Prayer
~ Lord God, give us hope—and may we spread and share Your hope with others—who
may be in desperate need of it. Hope is important for life.
Daily
Bible Reading: 1 Chronicles 6
©
2017 Text and photo by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.
All
scripture quoted from the New Living Translation (NLT) unless otherwise noted.
No comments:
Post a Comment