The Daily: Wednesday January 31, 2024

Daily Lectionary Reading: Psalm 35:1-10 (NRSV, The Message); Jeremiah 29:1-14 (NRSV, The Message); Mark 5:1-20 (NRSV, The Message)

“Build houses and make yourselves at home.
“Put in gardens and eat what grows in that country.
“Marry and have children. Encourage your children to marry and have children so that you’ll thrive in that country and not waste away.
“Make yourselves at home there and work for the country’s welfare...
I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.

Jeremiah 29:6-8, 11

Jeremiah 29:11 is a favorite verse for many, providing hope to folks in a variety of places along the path of life. When we read it in it's context, it gives that hope some specificity. The prophet is encouraging those who are living in exile - who have been taken from their homes and forced to live elsewhere - to keep going in the midst of their circumstances. And God will be with them.

No matter where you find yourself at the moment, even if it is far from where you would like to be, God has not abandoned you. Go about your work. Continue to create. Live into God's plan.