Today’s Reading:

Read Jeremiah 29:1-19; 30:10-11; 31:1-28,31-40; 32:37-44

Grab some paper and draw a picture of a flower. When you look at the picture, can you tell what had to happen first for the flower to begin to grow? Remember, a flower starts with a seed that gets planted in soil. Add water and put it in the sunlight and that seed reaches out of the dark into the light and becomes a beautiful flower. When you drew your flower, did you add those details? Sometimes we forget that a flower did not start as a flower. It started as a seed that is planted in dark soil.  

Now, think about the Israelites’ journey. Jeremiah had warned them that the Babylon empire was going to take them into captivity. They were going to be captured and be in a place that some would call dark because the light of God would not be there (kind of like the seed in the soil). God used Jeremiah to tell the Israelites that even in captivity, which would be dark, they should live for God, kind of like the seed reaching toward the sunlight. God promised to rescue and restore the Israelites, in time. While they waited, God wanted them to be an example and a light for the Babylon nation. 

Jeremiah wrote letters to the Israelites and told them to have HOPE. They could trust that God had a plan for their future, even though they were in the middle of tough times in a land that was not their own. 

Application/Prayer:

Sometimes we may be in situations or circumstances that seem dark and hard to us. We can remember, just like the Israelites, that God is with us in the good times and the bad times. Thank God for the truth that He is always with you, and He promises to never leave you. Read Jeremiah 29:11 and thank God for His plan for the Israelites and His plan for you. 

August Memory Verse: