Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7 No Quick Fixes
1. For most of the problems and hurdles of life, there are no quick fixes.
• Need to lose 15 pounds? It won’t be fast
• Need to find a six figure job
• Need a plumber to install toilet? It won’t be fast or easy — and it won’t be cheap.
2. Jeremiah is faced with a nation who has no quick fix
• 606-586 B.C. who had been exiled from their homeland. Babylonians exile
• Glory year of David and Solomon gone no Israel now. No Judah. No nothing.
• God sent them into exile 4 Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon
3. Consider some of Israel’s Problems and some desires they had major adjustments
• They might wish they still had the temple. But they don’t.
• They might wish they still lived within the walls of Jerusalem. But they don’t.
• They might wish they could still drink the wine of their own vineyards. But they can’t.
• They might wish they could sing their songs in Judah, but they can’t.
4. There is no quick fix, but there can be a Plan How can we fix it?
• God offers them a Plan : 5 Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. 6 Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. 7 But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.
• Israel in their new home can still be a people of the book, a people of faith, a people of remembering their heritage,
• God also offers us a new plan but it’s not a quick fix since I am in a new place, new life, new experience, I had better decide how I can live a meaningful
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5. God’s Plan for the exiled Ones is that they might fix a few things by:
• Building a Home a dwelling place where you are 5 Build houses and live in them;
• Plant where you’re at: Jeremiah 4:3 KJV For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns. Turn the soil and find some good dirt where you plant stuff and let it grow
• Some things get fixed by Marriage: why you’re in Babylon 6 Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, Mr Bradford got married was in hospice then after he met Jenny he lived an additional 3 years. Get Married to God
• Other things get fixed by Seeking God says, “seek for the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile,” although it’s a pagan city an corruptible society, a sinful nation, Jeremiah says, in effect, that “If your city church prospers, you prosper. Therefore, pray for its success.”
• One great way to fix things is by Prayer and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.
6. Finally, Remember our world is messy, our country is messy, our church is messy, our lifes are messy there is no quick fix As the gospel song reminds us,
• This world is not my home, I’m just a passing through,
• my treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue;
• The angels beckon me from heaven’s open door
• and I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.
• One theologian said, “We must not forget where we are, where we’re from and where we’re headed. If we’re not careful, we’ll get so wrapped up in the here and now that we’ll fail to live for the then and there.”
