GOD WANTS TO GIVE YOU A BRIGHT FUTURE
(Incentives to Pray and Love God)
Weekly Theme: The Nature of Godly Hope – 1st post

Jeremiah 29:11-14
“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the Lord…”

The first rule to interpreting any scripture is we need to know what it meant to those it was originally written. So let’s consider the context of this meaning. This promise was in a letter that Jeremiah sent to those who had been carried captive to Babylon from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. God had allowed them to be carried there because their nation, the kingdom of Judah, repeatedly backslid from serving the true God to worshiping idols. But now these captives were inclined to turn back to God.

This means that this promise came to those who had turned from God but were now inclined to repent and come back to God. So this promise meant that those who would seek God with all of hearts even though they had turned from Him in the past would have a bright future living in the blessings of God.

How do we apply this promise to our personal lives and to society as a whole in our time? God does not change. He is the same today as He was back then. Therefore, we can trust Him as could the Israelites of that day to give us a future filled with hope as we seek Him with all of our hearts. To seek God is to seek to know and understand Him and to seek to know and understand His will. God will show us Himself and His ways to the extent we need to know to follow and love Him.

God deals in the commodity of hope like no other. He offers it to all who will seek Him with all of their hearts even if they have been unfaithful in the past. God does not try to remind us of our past failures. He is a forward looking God who is not only willing but anxious to forgive us of our past. Don’t let the devil tell you any different. He would love to keep you in despair, so you cannot fully appreciate the love and forgiveness of God and look forward to a great future in the service of your Lord. God’s thoughts are truly focused on giving you a hope-filled future.

Larry Grabill