Taken Captive

Jeremiah 29:1-9

May it never be so for you, that you are taken captive moved to a land you do not know and made to learn a new language.  If that should happen I would pray that a Jeremiah was addressing a letter given to him by God, with instructions about the plan He has for you.

The sad news is sin has taken many a Christian captive, not to a foreign land, but a broken relationship, damaged fellowship with our Lord and King Jesus Christ.  And the only letter we will get from the Father is to come back home, do not build houses and plant gardens.  Do not encourage your children to crave the customs or to worship the little gods that cannot hear or see.  In that love letter of “come back home” the Father wants you to know this: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.”

What is so interesting to me in the letter that Jeremiah put on paper from the Lord is it was the plan of God for a select group of people from the nation of Judah.  Who were they: the king and queen, the eunuchs, the officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsman, and the metal workers? 

The plan, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.”

As a follower of Christ, do you pray for the business that employs you, do you pray for the community you live in, the City, and the Nation?

But God’s message to them and you and me is not over, for just as there was a serpent in the Garden of Eden; they will be in our lives as well.  God’s letter penned by Jeremiah warned them of prophets and diviners, whose goal was to deceive the people, the same purpose that was the Serpent in the Garden.  We also have these same people among us today, but they have different titles, like the media, preachers, seminarians, and lawyers or politicians, to list a few.

As you read this part of the letter, it is a warning to pay attention, be on your guard. “For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream, for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; I did not send them, declares the Lord.”   

And the letter comes with an expiration time; this promise found in verses 10-11, “For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”  

Maybe you are not a follower of Christ; perhaps you do not even believe in a God who loves you. There is a letter written to you from God the Father, and it is information that can change your life.  It is simple, get a New Testament, turn to the Gospel of John and ask God whom you may not believe in, to reveal Himself to you.  He changed my life, and He wants to have a personal relationship with you.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice