11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11 ESV
Each day Biblegateway.com posts a Verse of the Day. Today's verse was Jeremiah 29:11. Which is a very encouraging verse and most likely "claimed" by Christians and others many times a day. But I wonder how many of those verse claimers hold themselves accountable for verses 12 and 13?
12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. 13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:12,13 ESV
Uh-oh. You mean God's not just going to pour out His blessings while I sit around an do nothing? Manna won't fall from heaven if I am disobedient? I won't be on the receiving end of blessings in "good measure, pressed down, shaken together, (and) running over" when I am living a me-first life?
God's plan for our good, our prosperity, our success are, in large part, tied to the choices we make day in and day out. Salvation is not earned, but after that. . .
When David was disobedient, he was punished. When Samson sinned, the Spirit of God was removed from him. Stubborn Jonah ended up in a great fish.
Yes, God does have plans for peace and a future and hope for His children, but there are requirements, duties, conditions placed on us.
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