Seek the Peace (4)

“Take wives and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may bear sons and daughters—that you may be increased there, and not diminished.” Jeremiah 29.6

Increase, always increase
Without a solid and secure spiritual core to their lives and communities, the exiles from Jerusalem would not have the stamina to endure the hardship they would know in Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon. They needed to seek the Lord daily, in prayer and His Word, as we see Daniel did.

Similarly, the Church today will make no progress in knowing the blessings of God and being a blessing to the world around us unless we devote ourselves daily and earnestly to strengthening our souls in the Lord. Fulfilling our calling as the salt of the earth and the light of the world begins within, in the depths of our souls, where we keep our eyes steadfastly fixed on the promises of God and bend our knees and hearts to seek Him in His Word and prayer, day by day.

Focus on the promises of God, and seek Him with all your heart. With this as a foundation, the Lord through Jeremiah gave a third command to His people: They must not allow their time in captivity to cause the numbers of the people of God to decline. Rather, they must work to build-up the community of God’s people by giving their sons and daughters in marriage, and raising sons and daughters to know the promises of God and to seek Him with their parents.

God’s command was clear: Israel must increase in captivity in Babylon, even as bad as conditions may have been in some places; they must not allow the ranks of the people of God to decline.

Working at increase
Here is yet another sound word of instruction for the Church in exile in our secular and materialistic age. We must work hard to increase the ranks of the followers of Jesus Christ. Christians must not follow the fashion of the times which deprecates marriage and child-rearing in favor of a life of getting and spending. God has called us to be fruitful and multiply in every age; no amount of economic opportunity or ambition must be allowed to get in the way of this most important mandate.

In addition, the Church today needs to rediscover the work of evangelism. We have become so used to thinking of the lost as “seekers,” and doing everything we can think of in our churches to attract them to us, that we have forgotten, or at least, minimized, the mandate to make disciples as we are going, in the everyday situations of our lives.

But the world is not commanded to go to church; the Church is commanded to go to the world, and this is a form of ministry that has fallen by the wayside in too many churches today. This is evident from the way services of worship have changed to reflect the informal and spontaneous pop culture spirit of the age. It’s also a fact that church attendance is declining, compared with the growth of the population as a whole. We are not keeping pace, much less increasing.

But if we will faithfully focus on God’s purpose and plan, and seek Him daily and earnestly, we may be reminded and recalled to this most central component of our mission in the world.

To reverse a trend
Nationally, the percentage of the population claiming to be Christians is declining annually. Surely we can see that this is not the will of God for His churches! And we will not bring the peace and blessings of God to our nation if we continue decreasing in numbers of faithful believers.

In our churches, therefore, let us work to promote and strengthen Biblical and Christian marriage, to raise and nurture strong families, and to equip all the members of the Body of Christ for the work of sharing Jesus and proclaiming His Kingdom to every person in our community.

And let each of us take up the responsibility of identifying and working our Personal Mission Field, reaching out to the people we see each day with the grace and joy of Jesus, making the most of every opportunity to exemplify and proclaim Him, risen from the dead.

How else can we expect to multiply followers of Jesus Christ, and bring His blessings to ourselves and our neighbors? The “seeker-friendly” posture of our churches is not working, because it is not what God has called us to be as a community within our communities. We must shine like the light, season like salt, and spread like leaven into every neighborhood, school, work place, and every nook and cranny of culture and community life, there to touch others with the grace and truth of Jesus.

For reflection
1.  Why do you think churches today have largely abandoned the work of evangelism?

2.  Since God commands us to make disciples as we are going in the world (Matt. 28.18-20), should we not expect Him to bless and prosper this effort? Explain.

3.  What would it look like if your church were more like light, salt, and leaven in your community?

Next steps – Preparation: Watch this brief video, then map out your Personal Mission Field, and get started increasing the blessings of God to the people around you.

T. M. Moore

This is part 1 of a 5-part series, Living toward the Promises. You can download this week’s study as a free PDF, suitable for personal or group use, by clicking here. You can learn more about living toward the promises of God by ordering a copy of the book, I Will Be Your God, from our online store (click here).

We invite you to register for the free online course, One in Twelve: Introduction to Christian Worldview. In this course T. M. Moore provides a sweeping panorama of how life in the Kingdom of God unfolds in an age in flight from God such as ours. Set your own schedule and study at your own pace. Learn more, and register for One in Twelve, by clicking here.

The Lord uses your prayers and gifts to help us in this ministry. Add us to your regular prayer list, and seek the Lord concerning whether He would have you share with us. You can contribute to The Fellowship of Ailbe by using the contribute button at the website, or send your gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, 19 Tyler Drive, Essex Junction, VT 05452.

Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.