Lying preachers. They’ve been around as long as religion. And that’s a long time. The Bible is full of them. False prophets, unfaithful shepherds, wolves in sheep's clothing - just a few of the ways these tell-them-what-they-want-to-hear, out-for-themselves preachers are described.
A bevy of these self-appointed spokesmen for God was found in Babylon in the sixth century BC. Along with some of the upcoming young leaders of Israel, they had been relocated from Jerusalem and resettled along the Chebar River, just outside of King Nebuchadnezzar’s capital city.
They felt helpless and lost. Their future looked bleak.
Enter the liars. Described by God, through the prophet Jeremiah, as “prophesying lies to you in my name,” these false prophets were promising a return to the good old days.1
“Don’t worry,” they told their fellow exiles, “God is going to return us to our homeland. Soon, we can pick up right where we left off. Be patient. Wait for it.”
These worthless promises led the Jewish exiles in Babylon to push the pause button on their lives. And so, Jeremiah writes them a letter. In that letter, he assures these exiles that they will indeed return to their homeland. In 70 years!
In the meantime, they are to —
Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so they they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in numbers there; do not decrease.2
In other words, carpe diem, seize the day. Make the most of the present. And as you do, the future will be bright.
It’s up to you.
That’s the title of the message I shared with Embrace Church in North Carolina’s international city of High Point, North Carolina. And that’s the title I’ve given to these posts.
The past is just that - the past. Don’t get caught up in nostalgia, looking back to the good old days, pining away for something that has been swept away by the ever-flowing waters of time. And don’t let the hurts, pains, and scars of the past cripple you from living in the present. Live for today, and in doing so, you are building your future.
That was the message of Jeremiah to God’s people 2600 years ago, and that is the message of God for you and me today.
But the $100 question is - how?
And the answer that comes to us is found in this same passage where Jeremiah urges his people to get on with their lives -
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.3
Breaking free from the shackles of our past is possible when we seek God with all our hearts.
In other words, when we are “all in.”
And the truth is that can be pretty scary. “All in” means everything. The good, bad, and ugly we talked about in yesterday’s post. That’s what we bring to God as we look to embrace the present and build our future.
But here’s the problem, and it’s two-fold.
First, it’s not easy being all in with God. It demands a huge amount of trust. And trust isn’t something most of us have a lot of. We’ve been let down too many times in our lives.
Second, as if trust wasn’t hard enough, seeking God with all our hearts means laying bear our inner-most self with all its warts and ugliness.
And so, as much as we’d like to trust God for our present and future, we struggle with coming to Him just as we are. But as I say to our fellowship here in North Carolina almost every week - God meets us where we are and leads us to where he is calling us to be.
That’s good news. That’s the gospel. That’s the way of Jesus.
I love to watch the “Playing for Change” videos on YouTube. The other day, I watched one from a song by Nirvana many years ago - “Come As You Are.”
Come as you are, as you were, as I want you to be . . . the choice is yours, don’t be late. Come doused in mud, soaked in bleach, as I want you to be. As a trend, as a friend.4
Paul Simon sings about the “words of the prophets written on the subway walls,” and boy, oh boy, are they ever.5 Who would have thought Kurt Cobain’s lyrics would be a word from God, mirroring the call of Jesus?
Don’t be afraid to come to God as you are. That’s the message of Jesus. That’s the gospel, the good news, that the angel announced to the shepherds as being for “all people.”
Whoever you are, wherever you are, whatever your lifestyle, struggles, fears, or hidden, ugly secrets, you can come to Christ as you are.
That’s the open secret of the gospel for you and me. That’s the key to a healthy present and a bright future.
But, and here it comes again; it’s up to you.
In Christ,
Dan
You can hear the entire message here.
Check out my podcasts from Church on the Edge and my books on Kindle.
Jeremiah 29:9.
Jeremiah 29:5-6.
Jeremiah 29:13.
Check out this song on “Playing For Change.”
"The Sound of Silence,” by Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel.
Dan, so glad to hear you are pastoring a church again - they are blessed to have you there! Would you drop me an email at timhayes2024@gmail.com? I'd like to exchange phone numbers and chat with you - no rush. God bless! Tim