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Jeremiah 31 (ESV)
1 “At that time, declares the Lord, I will be the God of all the clans of Israel, and they shall be my people.”
2 Thus says the Lord:
“The people who survived the sword
found grace in the wilderness;
when Israel sought for rest,
3 the Lord appeared to him from far away.
I have loved you with an everlasting love;
therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.
4 Again I will build you, and you shall be built,
O virgin Israel!
Again you shall adorn yourself with tambourines
and shall go forth in the dance of the merrymakers.
5 Again you shall plant vineyards
on the mountains of Samaria;
the planters shall plant
and shall enjoy the fruit.
6 For there shall be a day when watchmen will call
in the hill country of Ephraim:
‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion,
to the Lord our God.’”
REFLECTION:
God wants all peoples to be His people, not limited to one nation and one tribe. This promise of God is not only to the tribe of Judah, but to the tribes of Israel, including all those who trust in the Lord. They will return and rebuild. God’s love will never change. Today, when we encounter all kinds of hardships and difficulties, do we still have faith in His promise? God always treats His people with deep love and kindness, and as long as we are willing to accept it, He will give us the best. Jeremiah has repeatedly proclaimed warnings about sin, but here he speaks of God’s deep and wide love, which is undoubtedly like a breath of fresh air, rejuvenating and refreshing the soul. The message of God that Jeremiah wanted to convey was that God’s justice and mercy should go hand in hand. When we think of God, we should not only be in awe and trembling, but we must also carefully observe how God draws us to Him with love on the path of our growth. God’s will is to build up our lives, so that we can enjoy abundance. May we be able to appreciate God’s will every day, live happily in God’s justice and love, and bear the fruit of life.
PRAYER:
Come to God with a grateful heart, review your journey of faith, and count the blessings of God especially for your experience of being led by God’s cords of kindness and bands of love when you are far away from Him. Ask God to give you spiritual vitality and alertness so that you will be more sensitive and alert to sin, and desire for God’s guidance and enlightenment.
HYMN:
The Lord’s My Shepherd – youtu.be/pN4tPkX0MG0
