[Left blank] and I often ask ourselves, “What will we leave our children and grandchildren? What will we pass on? There is an old Motown song that says, “Papa was a rolling stone. Wherever he laid his head was a stone. And when he died all he left was a loan.” We don’t want that to be our legacy.
In our family a legacy doesn’t mean a will or an inheritance. It’s not possessions or money. Our parents didn’t leave us any money. They did, “their giving while they were living so they were knowing where it was going.” Our parents invested in our lives. They gave us meaning and purpose and love,
Our church family did too. [Left blank] was 15 when we met. She was 19 when we were married and 29 when we went to [left blank]. So for 14 years of her life, and 35 years of my life, the [left blank] Church family in [left blank] invested their lives in ours. We were brought up in the word of God. We received meaning and love and purpose for life before we left for [left blank] to plant churches. Our church family made a large investment of their lives in us.
What are God’s promises for the future? Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the thoughts I think toward you, says the Lord. , thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
Jeremiah 29:11 is one of the most quoted and misunderstood passages in the Bible. The generation of today uses the NIV translation where is says God knows the plans He has for us. Plans to prospers us and give us a future and a hope.
It sounds great. What a great promise. But is real life like that?
My life has been filled with difficulty, pain and suffering. Yet, I’ve never met anyone I wanted to change places with. The Lord has given, and the Lord has taken away in my life. Some of us may have diseases right now that are killing us and seem to be taking away our future and hope. Some of us are experiencing financial loss or the loss of friends and our church.
Does Jeremiah hold forth a promise with a problem? What if my health is broken, or I’m going broke. What if I’m being harmed, molested or abused as many godly believers are?. What if even the best things I do and say are being slandered and mocked?
II Tim 3:12 says, “All that desire to live a godly life will be persecuted.” That is one promise we all can claim.
Where is my future and my hope? Has my lack of faith or the devil robbed me of this promise? Is it just me or the devil that brings bad stuff my way? Have I failed to raise the level of my faith and trust, so that I can receive the promise of Jer 29:11?
Or do most people have Jeremiah 29:11 wrong? What did this verse mean to Jeremiah? What did it mean to those in exile in Babylon that it was written to? What is Jeremiah saying and meaning? How do we apply it in our lives? Where is my future and hope?
Jer 29:11 has to be put into the context of the chapter, and the book of Jeremiah, and the Bible. Jeremiah 29:11 can’t mean now what it didn’t mean to Jeremiah back then or his readers. And it could be a promise be for a specific people at a specific time. One thing we do know is it does have an application for us today. It may not be made to us. But there are applications we can draw from it.
Paul said in Romans 15:4 that the scriptures are for our encouragement and learning. They give us hope. He said in II Tim 3:16-17 that all scripture is for teaching, correction, reproof, for training in righteousness, so we could be equipped for the work ahead of us.
Jeremiah 29:1-4 tells us that this promise is in a letter to the exiles who were in Babylon. It’s a specific letter to a specific people with a specific promise of what is going to happen when they return from exile. It’s to a specific group, at a specific time, in specific circumstances and in a specific place. It tells the God is going to prosper when they return from exile.
They didn’t return for 150 years. The people the letter was written to had all died. The promise was also made to a group not individuals. It wasn’t a, “here and now, all for you promise.” It was the promise of a legacy for their descendants.
The promise does has applications for us. Not for me singular, but for us plural. It’s about leaving a legacy. It’s not made to me or us. But it can apply to us. And it’s not about having a daily experience of health and wealth. It’s not a right here and right now promise. It’s not about better stuff and a better life. It’s not about flourishing now. This is earth not heaven.
But it is about leaving a legacy for our children and our children’s children..
We will look more at Jeremiah 29:1-14 in Part II.
We will start looking at it verse by verse. And we will see it is about establishing a base, a home, a foundation for those who come after us that is is built on the foundation of Jesus Christ as the chief cornerstone and His apostles and prophets.
Jer 29:11 is about a legacy of a foundation for the lives of those after us. Lives that are built on God’s Son and God’s Word. It is about giving them roots to establish and hold them. (Jer 17:5-8)
It’s about giving them a home and a base. And it’s not for just our physical children. It’s for spiritual children as well.
Ready to read Part II, Are You Leaving a Spiritual Legacy for Your Children / Grandchildren?
