Jeremiah 29:4-7

⁴ This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 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.”

I think these verses can be applied to our lives today, in a world which has largely moved on from Christianity. God wants us to seek the peace and prosperity of our world. To do good in our world, and to pray for it, that it may prosper and find peace. Whilst this world is temporary, there is an element where we can settle down and plant roots. Where we can invest in where God has placed us, for the betterment of our city. Where we can be good citizens and through that bring glory to God by caring for and treasuring our place on earth, in preparation for the day when it will be gloriously transformed. 

I’m also thinking about those two key words in verse 7 – peace and prosperity. Two major words that I connect with the gospel and the new heavens and the new earth. Peace with God as the foundation, and peace within ourselves and with others. And true prosperity, in all dimensions – spiritual, emotional, physical. That’s what is to come. Let’s reflect on how we have those things now and how they’ll be realised fully in the future and pray for how we can bring those realities to bear on the world now. 

David Lather