Jeremiah’s message to the captives in Babylon wasn’t what they wanted to hear. The Babylonian army had destroyed Jerusalem and then taken the best and brightest of Israel back to Babylon as slaves. Now cut off from worship in the Temple and all that reminded them of God’s providence and deliverance, the captives waited for a word of salvation and deliverance.
They didn’t get it.
At least, they didn’t get it the way they wanted. His letter to the captives is recorded in Jeremiah 29. Most of us are familiar with what the prophet said. Build houses and live in them, he said. Plant gardens and eat their harvest. Have children and give them in marriage.
In other words, hunker down for the long haul. You’re going to be there a while.
For some reason, most of us harbor a dream of being somewhere else. We seem to think that we’d be happy somewhere else. If we live in the mountains, we want to live at the beach. If we live at the beach, we want to live in the mountains. If we live in the city, we want to live in the country and if we’re in the country, we want to live in the city.
We do the same thing with time. If we grew up in the sixties, we wish we had grown up in the seventies. If we grew up in the fifties, we miss the forties. And so it goes.
There are two problems with this type of daydreaming. First, the good ol’ days weren’t all that good. Sure, I remember when we had only three channels on TV and you actually had to walk across the room to change the channel. Call me soft, but I like my central air and microwave.
The second problem is we miss the moments and opportunities right in front of us. Life doesn’t wait. It goes on. If we spend all of our time looking back, we’ll never see the moment right in front of us.
Yes, our nation is in trouble. Just pick an area: the economy, education, marriage, poverty – any of these and so many more make life difficult for too many of our citizens.
We know about the problems, but who has the solutions?
You do. Now, before you back up and start waving your hands telling me that you can’t do anything that will make any real difference, let me remind you this is the month we celebrate the men and women who fought to make our nation’s liberty possible.
The men and women of 1776 weren’t professional soldiers. They were farmers, carpenters, silversmiths, printers, and shop owners. They brought their own weapons and were constantly short of supplies and ammunition. Most of the time they were outnumbered by, what was at the time, the most powerful army in the world – and they fought anyway. They were men and women who loved freedom more than their own lives and were willing to fight for that freedom. Our nation was born in their sacrifice.
Our freedom requires eternal vigilance and that means we as citizens have to stay involved. Go to city council meetings or better yet, run for office. Volunteer to teach reading or English as a second language. Write your members of Congress and Senators. Don’t just complain about how bad things are. DO SOMETHING!
Men and women, just like us, were once faced with a choice. They chose to be patriots. Like them, we have been confronted with a choice. Do we have the courage to be patriots? Our battle may not be fought with guns and bullets, but it’s a fight nonetheless. The future of our nation, the nation our children and grandchildren will grow up in, is being decided in communities and neighborhoods throughout our nation. The battle is fought with ideas and these ideas have consequences.
So, as we think about the men and women who have answered freedom’s call in our nation’s past, let’s listen for the call coming to us and be ready to answer for the sake of liberty. This year, have a real 4th of July celebration. Do something that makes a difference. Choose to be a patriot.
