I’d like to buy that property. That nice piece of property in the middle of the war zone. Maybe Syria or Afghanistan. Or that lot next to the crack house. Maybe the property that was abandoned after the fires. Right in the middle of the earthquake, flood or mudslide. Under the debris of the tornado. I’ll take it. Cash on the barrel head.
People wondered about Jeremiah. His nation was cracking up, people heading toward exile, adversaries pounding on the door, the proud walls tumbling. And then, in the middle of chaos and disillusionment, he says he’s buying his cousin’s field (Jeremiah 32). When everyone is loading possessions into their carts for a quick escape, hiding away in the basement, and bracing themselves against impending famine, Jeremiah buys a field for the future, a future that can’t yet be seen.
He takes the deed and seals it in a clay jar for safe-keeping. And the word that comes to him from the Spirit is that in the future life will once again flourish on that very land. You can’t see it now, but it will.
Kings and empires rise and fall. Leaders are good, corrupt and everything in-between. The times are tranquil or full of angst. The people are wicked and righteous and both at the same time. We wish we could choose the times into which we are born or where, but that is not up to us.
Jeremiah buys the field, the field of the future, the field of hope. I hear it’s a risky investment. They say such blind faith is pure foolishness. The majority says to fly under the radar and protect yourself.
But what they don’t understand is that buying the field of the future clears the way for the future to unfold. Unless we bank on a vision of the future that is greater than the reality in which we now live, it won’t come. That vision of the future has to be announced, anticipated, trusted.
Buy the field. Whatever else is happening, just buy it.
vitalwholeness 