READING: Jeremiah 26-29
My wife and I have a small frame that includes Jeremiah 29:11: “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and future.’” A friend gave it to us many years ago when we were following the Lord’s direction to a new place of ministry. Back then, those words meant a lot to us.
They still do, but I think I’m even more amazed these days by the next words: “Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart” (Jer 29:12-13). The words were directed to God’s people in exile, but they still speak of the miraculous today. When we seek God with all our being, He listens to us. He allows Himself to be found. He’s not a false god who cannot hear our prayers, and He’s not a distant god who disconnects himself from his creation.
What we must do is seek Him with all our heart. That understanding means that we approach him in wholehearted repentance, broken over our wrong and seeking His face in humility and awe. It allows no sense of holding back any part of one’s self; it gives no room for partial repentance, no option for simply turning to God only for blessing. It is the cry of the tax collector in Jesus’ story about a Pharisee and a tax collector praying in the Temple: “God, have mercy on me, a sinner” (Luke 18:13). When we pray like that, God listens.
In the words of one commentator, “God does not play hide-and-seek with penitent people!”* That’s good news!
ACTION STEPS:
- Take stock of your life. Make a list of anything that keeps you from seeking God with all your heart.
- Think about the ways God has shown His plans to you in the past. Thank Him for being a God who is not distant.
PRAYER: “God, I pray the prayer of the tax collector today: ‘Have mercy on me, a sinner.’”
TOMORROW’S READING: Jeremiah 30-31
* Smith, J. E. (1992). The Major Prophets (Je 29:1–23). Joplin, MO: College Press.