17
Made Captives
Calvin Kochi4Then the word of the Lord came to me: 5“Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. 6I will set my eyes on them for 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 pluck them up. 7I will give them a heart to know that I am the Lord, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart. Jeremiah 24:4-7
God uses the analogy of good figs and bad figs. There was a huge difference the good figs were very good, and the bad figs were really bad so bad they cannot be eaten. Then He explains that the good figs are like the exiles that obeyed Him and went on to live in Babylon who trusted the Lord. What made them very good figs is that even if it didn’t seem like the right thing to do they obeyed.
At times this is how the Lord works. He gives us the most challenging things to do it goes against anything that would make sense. Why would God send His children into the hands of their enemy? I think it was to show them that He would provide and care for them even in captivity. God knew that it would take something out of the ordinary to win the hearts of the people. It is in my struggles that I must choose to get even closer to the Lord so that I get to know the depth of His Love. All I know is that God wants all of my heart especially the broken parts because Gods desire for all of us is to building up and not tearing down.
Lord I want to be planted in you so that no matter what storms come my faith and heart would not be uprooted but securely grounded in you.
