"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11).
Evaluate and Reflect on the past.
As we step into this new year, it's essential to reflect on the journey we've undertaken in the previous year. As we reflect on the past year, we can see that it has been a year of great change and upheaval. We have seen the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, war in the middle East and the ongoing unrest in many African countries. These events have shaken our world and left us feeling uncertain about the future. Each step, every trial, and triumph have shaped us and brought us to this moment. The Apostle Paul encourages us in Philippians 3:13-14: "Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
Forget and leave the things that pull us down. Certain things in the past can drag us back. These are not just the past failures, but even now there are things behind you and me pulling us back. In order to strive forward, we need to get rid of the backward pulling force. “You cannot drive forward too long with looking at your rear view mirror” We cannot change the past. We can ruin a great present and promise of the future by worrying about the past.
There is a story of two Buddhist monks who were walking together just after a thunderstorm. They came to a flooding stream. A beautiful, young Japanese woman stood there wanting to cross to the other side, but was afraid of the currents. Buddhist monks are not allowed to look at women or touch one. Yet, one of the monks said, “Can I help you?” I need to cross the stream,” replied the woman. The monk picked her up, put her on his shoulder, carried her through the swirling waters, and put her down on the other side. He and his companion then went on to the monastery. That night his companion said to him, “I have a bone to pick with you. As Buddhist monks, we have taken vows not to look on a woman, much less touch her body. Back there by the river, you did both.” “My brother,” answered the other monk, “I put the woman down on the other side of the river. You’re still carrying her in your mind.” How easy it is to be obsessed with the past at the expense of the future. We carry a lot of unnecessary load on our backs. Our griefs, disappointments, hatred, vengeance and many other events in the past must be forgotten and left behind so that we can move forward. Do not think about them.
As we start the new year, let us release the burdens of the past – the mistakes, regrets, and missed opportunities. God's mercy is new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23), and His grace is sufficient for us (2 Corinthians 12:9). Let us embrace the forgiveness offered through Christ and move forward with renewed hope and purpose.
Enjoy the present
Jeremiah 29:5 “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. 6 Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. 7 Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”
Even in the middle of uncertainty, we can live life in a fashion that honors the Lord; we can work for the betterment of our community. Get involved to make our society better in whatever way possible. We are not to sit idle as spectators. God doesn’t want Israel to withdraw from the society of Babylon and retreat into a Jewish community by themselves. God doesn’t tell Israel to start a revolution in Babylon. God doesn’t even invite Israel to hide their faith and religious identity either.
God calls exiled Israel to fully invest her energy and herself in the well being of the nation to which they are exiled. God invites her to live well where God has planted her, to do things like get married and have children. God challenges the Israelites to remain healthy so that they not only flourish in exile, but also are also fully ready for the time when God sends her back to the land of promise.
Walter Brueggemann summarizes God’s message as, “Even in exile, Judah is to multiply, just as the old, enslaved community of Exodus 1 multiplied. Even in displacement, Judah continues to be the people over which God’s promise for the future presides with remarkable power.”
We are also like our forefathers in an alien land. We are immigrants and sojourners. Sojourners do not have a permanent home. Just like Abraham lived in tents, his descendants lived in tents in their journey. We also live in tents of earthly bodies. We are to enjoy the joy in the journey.
By building houses, planting gardens, marrying, and giving in marriage, Jer 29:5,6; we seek and pray for the prosperity of the place where they live; Jer 29:7; Also, to give no heed to their false prophets and diviners, (Jeremiah 29:8,9). It means be true to the faith and the Scripture. Do not fall into false teachings of the social and political pressures. Stand for justice, mercy, care and compassion and love. When we follow the command of Jesus, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39), we fulfill the prophecy in this book of Jeremiah.
Pray for our communities and our nation, and we can seek its peace. In a divided country, what better opportunity for believers to be known as peacemakers (Matthew 5:9)? Even as we feel sometimes as if we are in captivity, perhaps we can seek the Lord to see how we can be a blessing to the community around us. If you do not seek the welfare of the place where God has sent you, your life is going to be unhappy. You will make others unhappy as well. Think of yourself as sent there by God for his glory. Because you are. "Be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God." (Ephesians 5:1-2 NRSV).
Christians are people of promise. We inherited the promise of Abraham. Heb 9:15, we read “through Jesus Christ who is the mediator of the new covenant, we received the promise of the inheritance”. “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going” (Heb 11:8). This does not mean we give up our exile orientation. Peter says that Christians are “sojourners and exiles” (1 Peter 2:11) and Paul says “our citizenship is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20). We will serve God and others from the perspective of a promised city “the city that is to come” (Hebrews 13:14). So, let’s live — let’s do so much good (1 Peter 2:12) — that the natives will want to meet our King.
I’m deeply grateful for our commitment to the well being of the community in which God has placed us in this community. God has opened new opportunities to reach out to the needs of the community by placing the Hispanic group here with us. We have supported the needy families and children without parents for the last two years. Let us continue to use opportunities that allow us to get out of our comfort zones. When we care for the people in our community, change will happen.
Follow God's Guidance every day. Do Good and do no harm. Live and enjoy every moment. Proverbs 3:5-6 reminds us to trust in the Lord with all our hearts and lean not on our own understanding. In the coming year, let us seek God's guidance in every decision, allowing His wisdom to illuminate our paths. As we navigate the uncertainties of the future, may our faith in God's sovereignty be our guiding light.
Embrace the Future
Jeremiah 29:10 This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
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