“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.” Jeremiah 29:7
This passage from the book of Jeremiah has always intrigued me. The context is that God is speaking to and through the prophet Jeremiah, who is crushed in spirit about being carried away from his beloved Jerusalem. Jeremiah and the captive Israelites were lamenting that they were no longer in the Promised Land, and that they were now cut off from their destiny.
God gives Jeremiah a new plan. Really, I am thinking it was the plan all along. Jeremiah was to tell the captive Israelites that they were to plant gardens in Babylon. They were to marry and have children. They were to participate in the economy of this pagan Babylon and to help make it prosper. I’m sure that this was hard for Jeremiah to hear, and then to relate to his people, about participating in the hated Babylonian society and economy.
I think that message was also for the Church today. It was a cornerstone of my philosophy at New Creation Counseling Center. Christian organizations ought to be an integral part of society, helping in every way possible to enhance the physical, social, economic and spiritual health of where we are planted.
The history of the Church involvement through the centuries has been to start schools, hospitals, and benevolent organizations to help people in every walk of life- especially carrying out the mission Jesus set forth to help the poor and disenfranchised.
So, we grow where we are planted, and as our city prospers, so do we.
Prayer: Thank you Lord for this simple plan- to grow where we are planted, Amen
Reflections of a Counselor 