Today is day 23 of the #iheartBible challenge that I’m hosting. If you have joined up, hooray! I’m glad you’re here. If you want to join up, then awesomesauce! Check out the challenge post for details and join in on the linky so we can all read one another’s posts during the challenge. I love Jesus and blogging, so I’m glad to see people joining in. We’d love to have you join, too. It’s never too late!
Today’s verse is Jeremiah 42.10. Read it below in its context (Why do I care about context?):
7 At the end of ten days the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. 8 Then he summoned Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces who were with him, and all the people from the least to the greatest, 9 and said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your plea for mercy before him: 10 If you will remain in this land, then I will build you up and not pull you down; I will plant you, and not pluck you up; for I relent of the disaster that I did to you. 11 Do not fear the king of Babylon, of whom you are afraid. Do not fear him, declares the Lord, for I am with you, to save you and to deliver you from his hand. 12 I will grant you mercy, that he may have mercy on you and let you remain in your own land. 13 But if you say, ‘We will not remain in this land,’ disobeying the voice of the Lord your God 14 and saying, ‘No, we will go to the land of Egypt, where we shall not see war or hear the sound of the trumpet or be hungry for bread, and we will dwell there,’ 15 then hear the word of the Lord, O remnant of Judah. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: If you set your faces to enter Egypt and go to live there, 16 then the sword that you fear shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine of which you are afraid shall follow close after you to Egypt, and there you shall die. 17 All the men who set their faces to go to Egypt to live there shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. They shall have no remnant or survivor from the disaster that I will bring upon them.”
This is my favorite verse. It is part of a promise from God to the people of Israel. The people of Israel didn’t know what to do, so they asked Jeremiah, a prophet, to ask God for guidance. Long story short: God said to stay where they were and they’d be successful; they, as was often the case, disobeyed God and did exactly what God specifically warned them not to do. They were given an opportunity for a fresh start on a new path as the remnant of Judah.
I take this promise to heart. What’s the land where I am to stay? Firmly rooted in Jesus. He is my land–my good land. And as long as I remain in Him, He will plant me and not uproot me–meaning that He will nourish me in Him and protect me.
How might God be promising to plant you in Him?
I also like this verse because it shows that God has sympathy. He says to the Israelites that He relents, or is sorry for, the disaster they’ve experienced. He pains to see us suffer, even if it is for a good reason, as a result of our own sin, or as a victim. That comforts me.
How might you be comforted that God is sympathetic of your pain?
Love,
