Back from Captivity

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”

Jeremiah 29:11-14

Once upon a time, there was a people, a chosen people. These people were God’s people. Now God out of His goodness and love saved these people from slavery while they were in Egypt, and He led them by cloud by day and fire by night. Out of His love, mercy, and grace, He gave them a set of guidelines to live by, which was called the Law. It was the Law of Love, but the people didn’t see it so much that way. They saw it and used it as a means of binding each other up in wrongdoing instead of loving.

God’s right way of living that He’d given them was good for them, but it made them very different from all the other peoples of the world, and God’s chosen people had their own heart caverns. They wanted wisdom like God (Eve). They wanted to have kings like other peoples. They wanted to marry whom they wanted to marry, and they wanted to rule themselves instead of staying under God’s righteous protection. They decided to fill the caverns of their heart with more of themselves. The more they did this, the more they became bound up with all the icky things we don’t like to put in our heart, like I mentioned two days ago – fear, pride, anger, and more. But all along the way, God was doing different things in order to get their whole hearts. He set them free from Egypt. He gave them a leader named Moses. He gave them the law. He gave them prophets, and then He allowed them kings.

But His chosen people did not seek Him with their hearts. I know that God’s plan was to send a Savior named Jesus from the beginning of time because I know that God knew how the story was going to turn out, but I wonder if all these things He did first were His attempt to take the cup of wrath from His Son – to spare His death on a cross.

The people whom He loved kept living their own ways, until they suffered a consequence that the prophets foretold would happen. Their country was split apart and then many of the people were taken into captivity by other countries. They were exiled and far from home. God loved them enough to let them suffer the consequence of the things their hearts longed for. But God still wished good for them. He still longed for their whole hearts. He sent Jeremiah to tell them that He had good plans for His people. Part of the goodness of His plan was for His people to be held captive by others. Their captivity would soften their hearts and remove some, if not much, of the things they’d filled their hearts with that they need not have. Their captivity would help them long for God Himself. It would help their hearts become whole.

We have all been like God’s chosen people, and after Jesus came, we’ve all been invited to be part of this elect group of people, through acceptance of Christ as Lord – through giving our whole hearts. The problem is we often keep a part of our hearts for ourselves. Sometimes, the consequences of that is dire. Sometimes, death occurs. Sometimes, we become captives – slaves to our own evil desires or even our own good desires used wrongly. We live in the dark, and we begin to crave the light. But the giving over of every piece of our hearts is a beautiful freedom. Christ is the One we’ve longed for, the One who gives us freedom – the One who can turn the empty caverns into beautiful works of Art displayed for the glory of His splendor. You, dear reader, you who long for Christ, are a beautiful place of Art.