The Investment of Your Life

Home values in many markets are on the rise after significant losses over the past several years and sales are up; good news for homeowners and sellers, not so much for buyers.  Good deals to be had in a buyer's market disappear quickly when values come back, demand increases and inventory goes down.

I was in the real estate business for many years and saw the whole range of losses and gains as markets changed.  But I never saw anything like the experience of Jeremiah (see Jeremiah 32).  For him and the people of Israel, property values had to be totally in the tank.  Jerusalem was under siege by the Babylonians and all that people could think about was getting through the occupation and exile alive, much less what would happen to their property values.

Then God showed up and told Jeremiah that his cousin was going to approach him to sell Jeremiah a piece of property and Jeremiah was buy it.  I know what I would of thought about that idea!  Lord, we're just trying to hold life together here and you're brokering a real estate deal!  What's up with that?

Here's what God was up to.  God had promised His people through the prophet Jeremiah that 70 years after the invasion and exile, God would bring His people home and would rebuild their community, their identity and their lives.  The day would come when property would be bought and sold again, crops would be harvested and joy would return for the Israelites.  God wanted Jeremiah to buy this property at the very worst time, under the worst of conditions as a SIGN that God would keep His promise.  It was to be a sign of hope to a people in despair and it came through the life of one man willing to obey God regardless of how ridiculous it looked.

God has made a promise to the human race.  We all live in 'fallen Babylon'; a world contaminated by sin, selfishness, violence and depravity.  But God has promised that those who would trust and obey Him would have a home with God for all eternity; a home free from sin and its destructive effects.

And every time another person obeys God and surrenders their future to the lordship of Jesus, it's a sign that God will keep His promise.  It's a sign that God has a future worth investing in and we invest by placing faith in Jesus.  Follower of Jesus, you are a sign to others that there is hope; hope that is worth the investment of your life.