“There is hope for your future, declares the LORD, and your children shall come back to their own country.”
Jeremiah 31:17, ESV
God desires to restore His people. At the time Jeremiah proclaimed this word of promise, the people of God were going to be exiled, and Jerusalem was to be destroyed. Yet, the words of promise came with a declaration that the tribe of Ephraim would turn back to God and become faithful again. We can find hope in this Word as we return to the faith to which our Lord calls us. Even when we fail and go after false idols, if we repent our God will receive us again into His embrace. God will hear the cries of His chosen when they realize their need for Him and the prayers of a person that has fallen away will not be ignored. Think of this hope and promise. We, who have been cleaved into the covenant promise by Christ, will be called to our Lord when we turn to Him in faith and repent of our errors. It was a glorious promise for those led into exile that remains for us, not just a promise for the time, but an eternal promise given to all people that God chooses. It is the promise of God’s love for His creation and all those who He has called His own.
Let us pray. I thank you, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, your dear Son, that you have kept me this night from all harm and danger, and I ask you to protect me this day also from sin and every evil, that in all I do today, I may please you. For into your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all that is mine. Let your holy angel watch over me, that the wicked foe have no power over me. Amen.