I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Jeremiah 28-30.

    Jeremiah tells us an important thing about prophecy in today’s passage. He tells us that God sends prophets to warn us about dangers to come, not to reassure us that all will be well. As a result we should always be skeptical of those who claim that God has told them that the future will not be as bad as it looks. God sends prophets to call us to repent, not to tell us that all is well.

    In a different, but related, message, Jeremiah wrote a letter to those already exiled to Babylon. He told them to settle into the place where they found themselves and live their lives. He warned them not to listen to or trust those prophets who were telling them that they would not be there for long. The prophets that Jeremiah warned against remind me of the preachers who tell us not to spend any time working for the future because Christ will return soon. My thoughts on this are based on something my father said on numerous occasions. My father said that we should live our lives as if Christ will return tomorrow, but plan for the future as if we will live for another 100 years. I believe that the message from Jeremiah is that we should not listen to anyone who tells us that we do not need to plan for the future.