Daily devotional · October 25
Seek the Good of Your City
“This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says to all the exiles who were carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon: “Build houses and settle down. Plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters. Take wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Multiply there; do not decrease. Seek the prosperity of the city to which I have sent you as exiles. Pray to the LORD on its behalf, for if it prospers, you too will prosper.””
Jeremiah wrote to exiles who were far from home and hoping for a quick return. His counsel was surprising: build houses, plant gardens, marry, raise families, and seek the peace of the city where you now live, because its peace is yours too. God was saying that faithfulness happens even in the wrong place, even in a waiting season. Many of us feel we are between chapters, waiting for the real life to begin. This passage says to live fully now and bless the people around you. Today, look at where you actually are: your neighborhood, workplace or family. Choose one concrete way to improve it for others, a neighbor's need, a kindness at work, a prayer for your town. Blessing your surroundings can be a quiet form of worship.
Prayer
God, help me bloom where I am and seek the good of the place You have put me. Amen.