Some folks are better at remembering names, dates, and events than are others. It is said that the older one gets … the harder it becomes to remember as clearly as we once did! And this writer can certainly vouch for that truth.
Unlike the created … our Creator doesn’t forget! That is to say when He makes a promise He keeps it!
God’s people down through the ages have had trouble remembering what the Lord has instructed, warned, and encouraged them to be.
Centuries before our time on this earth, God’s people chose to ignore and disobey God’s word … the result was they’re being carried off to a foreign land, into captivity for many years.
But God didn’t forget them. The inspired prophet Jeremiah penned a letter that was carried to those in captivity. That letter recorded in Jeremiah 29, one of several, was filled with hope, assurance, and admonition.
Rather than listening to the false teachers … which every generation has … they were to heed the message from God’s messenger. They would indeed only be “sojourners”, but their captivity would extend for some 70 years. It is no different for you and me today in the 21st Century! We are only “sojourners” here, but we are on our way to an eternal home. (Hebrews 11:16)
We must always be on the alert for those bearing and sharing a false narrative asserting it is from God! We should be mindful that people without real hope that are desperately searching for some kind of hope … are very often easy targets for those who have wrong motives!
We can surely agree with the words of the hymn, “Troublesome times are here, filling men’s hearts with fear. Freedom we all hold dear now is at stake. Humbling your hearts to God saves from the chastening rod. Seek the way pilgrims trod, Christians awake.”
You and I are not privy to whether or not our generation will be the last generation on this earth! Not even God’s Son, Jesus Christ, knows when this world will end (Matthew 24:36 NKJV).
Furthermore, it is not ours to decide when the end should come. But it is ours to live even as the Apostle Paul instructed the Philippian brethren in Philippians 2:15, “That you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.”
Just as it was back in the days of the prophet Jeremiah so it is our privilege and responsibility to our Kingdom calling until this short life comes to a conclusion.
“Seek the welfare of your city”. Share what God has revealed. Some have never considered His Word and do not know His Son.
God’s people are always to be “salt and light” (Matthew 5:16). It is by our righteous conduct, our godly living, though not perfect but forgiven … that we uplift any land in which we are living!
Human reasoning does not hold a candle to the ways of God! It would be this same prophet Jeremiah, who would be moved by God to write, “O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself; It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.” (Jeremiah 10:23 NKJV)
It will never be about what I think about life and our future days on this earth … but it will always be about what God’s Book has to say! We just don’t know what’s best and more often than not we are wrong. God is never wrong. He surveys eternity from past to future.
Patience … growing faith … prayer … greater trust in the Lord … spending more time in His Book … sharing the message with others … these are to be our marching orders!
Yet another great prophet of old named Isaiah was moved by God to write, “’For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,’ says the Lord. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.’” (Isaiah 55:8-9 NKJV)
You see, God doesn’t forget. His plan for the captives in Babylon was for a return to Him in their hearts as their One True and Living God to love, serve, and obey … and then to their land as the chosen people of God! He wants each of us to be saved for eternity as well, but His grace and mercy still require all of our heart!
Will there be hard and challenging times ahead if time continues? According to the inspired Word of God, there will. Paul writes, “Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.” (2 Timothy 3:12 NKJV)
As the words to the always relevant hymn teach us, “My hope is built on nothing less Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness; I dare not trust the sweetest frame, But wholly lean on Jesus’ name. On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand; All other ground is sinking sand.”
There is a heavenly reward awaiting those who make the right choices … listen to the right voice … and refuse to give in to the world or to give up! “Be strong and courageous” is always the reminder from God that we need to hear.
Bill Fairchild, Jr.
How is your daily Bible reading coming along?
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