I WILL BUILD THEM UP

 JUNE 22, 2022

Jeremiah 24:6

After Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah and the officials, the skilled workers and the artisans of Judah were carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Lord showed me two baskets of figs placed in front of the temple of the Lord. 2 One basket had very good figs, like those that ripen early; the other basket had very bad figs, so bad they could not be eaten.

3 Then the Lord asked me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?”

“Figs,” I answered. “The good ones are very good, but the bad ones are so bad they cannot be eaten.”

4 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 5 “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Like these good figs, I regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I sent away from this place to the land of the Babylonians. 6 My eyes will watch over them for their good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not uproot them. 7 I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.




I believe we are likely all aware that one of the ways a self-doubting person builds themselves up is by pulling other people down. By making somebody else look inferior, the person doing the 'pulling down' might feel superior, at least temporarily. While this is a very unhealthy way to go about life, many people think that God is waiting to do the same thing to us. He is just watching for an opportunity to criticize us and point out all shortcomings, to pull us down. You know God with the Lightning Bolts in hand ready to launch them at the slightest misstep, like the Roman God Zeus. While God’s servants have sometimes, by their words and actions portrayed God in this way, that is not who God is.


The exact opposite is true of God. God is not waiting to find fault in us, God is looking for every opportunity to pull us up! In today's promise, we read of God's heart for His people and His desire for only good things for them. Now notice this promise comes after some hard places for his people. He promises to only do good things for us, to build us up and to plant us in solid fertile ground and God uses our experiences to do just that.

You know what I really believe? That God is always looking for new opportunities to encourage us so that we might fulfill our calling as His beloved community. My prayer today is that we would simply believe that the Jeremiah 24:6 promise is true and that means God is FOR us in every way!

I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.