TO CHEW ON: "And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the Lord for it; for in its peace you will have peace." Jeremiah 29:7
Jeremiah's predictions had come true. The things Judah's rulers and false prophets had tried to keep him from saying, indeed punished him for saying (Jeremiah 18:18; 20:1-6) had happened.
Jerusalem had fallen to Babylon in 587 B.C. and its choicest citizens were now living in exile there. Our reading today is part of the letter Jeremiah sent to his countrymen and -women now living in exile.
It's a surprisingly upbeat, encouraging letter with assurances that things will be okay. God has a "future and a hope" for them, especially if they return to Him from their backsliding (Jeremiah 29:11-13).
Jeremiah's advice that they pray for the peace of their new home (and thus their captors) may have surprised them. My Bible's footnotes call it "a totally new concept" - Roy Edmund Hayden, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 999.
The exhortation to pray for the peace of the places we live is good for us too. It makes sense, as logical Jeremiah puts it "for in its peace you will have peace."
So whether we agree with our leaders or not, whether we have issues with the laws being passed and the people in charge, the industry or lack of it, how they're spending our tax dollars, whether or not the poor are being cared for etc. etc., or totally agree, let's pray for the peace and well-being of the countries, regions and cities in which we live.
PRAYER: Dear God, I pray for my country Canada, my province and city. May we be a region that is peaceful and that because of this peace, Your people will prosper and Your truth flourish. Amen.
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New King James Version (NKJV) Used with permission. The Holy Bible, New King James Version Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
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