It’s always interesting when you’re rapidly reading through a big chunk of the Bible and you come across one of those super iconic verses like Jeremiah 29:11. When this happens to me, I remember that it’s part of a large book and not just a stand-alone saying that I see on cheesy Christian home décor and sappy inspirational memes. It’s actually a little beacon of hope in the middle of what is otherwise a fairly long (1,364 verses to be exact) and depressing book of the Bible. It’s depressing because Jeremiah basically has very little good news for the people of Judah.
However, despite the gloomy prophetic news that Jeremiah has for the people he is living amongst, God still manages to sneak some little threads of hope and good news in there, just to show us how faithful and steadfast His love truly is. We see this in verses like Jeremiah 29:11, but also in less well-known ones, such as Jeremiah 31:31 – “‘The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah.’”
Fast forward about six centuries and we see that God has made this new covenant which was manifested through the coming of Jesus. Jesus coming to earth and giving His life for us becomes the greatest display of love ever and we have a lot to learn from it. Jesus taught His disciples to love others in the way that He loves us. He taught His disciples to be willing to lay down their lives for others just like He laid down His life for all of us.
On my wedding day, I got up at the beginning of the ceremony and read 1 John 3, which is one of my favorite sections from the Bible on love. Jesus’ disciple John writes that “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.” But this type of love warrants a response. So John continues this thought by concluding that “we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.”
Even in the midst of a rebellious nation that has turned its back on God, God still selflessly loves His creation, even to the point of laying His life down… And He calls us to do the same.
-Ryan Guerra
(Associate Pastor)