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Meanwhile

          This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.  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. 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.” Yes, this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have. They are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not sent them,” declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 29:1-9)

What are you waiting for? A Bible study I’m doing on Genesis focuses on Abraham this week. One of the questions was, “Has there been a day in the future that you have longed for? Of course, one is the day that I’m discovered as a writer. A related item is the day Book IV comes out. When I was making my list, I added, the day of competence, the day of creativity, and the day of significance. Those aren’t really a day, as if it happens once in my life and it’s over. Other days I’m currently looking forward to are the days I can plant inside or outside. They will be here sooner than we think. Looking at my list, there aren’t many that are God-sized. Another possibility is the day that my house will be functionally and aesthetically “done.” I don’t know if such a day can exist.

Abraham waited 25 years to get the son he’d been promised. In today’s passage, the Israelites longed for the day when they returned to Jerusalem. And God promised they would. Meanwhile, they weren’t to sit around moping. God gave them a list of instructions:

1.       Build houses and settle down,

2.       Plant gardens and eat what they produce,

3.       Get married, have sons and daughters, and find husbands and wives for them. Increase, don’t decrease,

4.       Seek the peace and prosperity of the city in which you life,

5.       Pray to the Lord for the city in which you live, and

6.       Don’t buy into what the “prophets” tell you. Neither the gloom and doomers nor the name and claimers.

          What the list boils down to is “build a life.” While some of us are in a time of life when #3 isn’t likely, the rest are all still available for us. And all of it comes back to “Do what  you can, where you are, with what you have, now.” But it feels good today to confirm that this is what we’re supposed to do when things aren't how we want them to be.

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