There is a plan for graduation in the works in Chicago. Should all high school students be required to have a plan for their lives after graduation? Some say yes. Others are less than excited about putting one more requirement on a school system that is struggling.
No matter what you do after high school, whether it’s a requirement or not, it’s a good idea to have a plan. In our text from Jeremiah we see that God had a plan for his people. The problem is that is wasn’t necessarily the one they wanted.
You see, God’s people had fallen away… completely. There was nothing left for God to do but to send them into exile and destroy their home. So when Jeremiah showed up, the people weren’t too happy to hear his message of judgment. What is worse than always having a message of judgment? Watching it come true. Jeremiah is known as the weeping prophet because he watched Jerusalem be destroyed along with Solomon’s magnificent temple.
Yet God did not abandon his people. God promised to bring his people back to their home in Canaan after 70 years of exile in Babylon. That might not sound like good news of you were in chains walking to Babylon after watching your home destroyed, but it is a reminder that God was faithful to his promise of sending a Savior. God is faithful even when we’re not. No matter what our plans are after school or in life, God stuck to his plan to save the world. Even when the going got hard – even when people (read you and me) didn’t appreciate everything that God did – even when people (read you and me again) rebelled against God – God stuck to the plan.
That plan was for Jesus to live in our place and die in our place. God even included an eternal guarantee that he can keep his word! It’s called Easter. That doesn’t secure endless wealth or comfort in this life, but it does make our eternity a lock that we can plan on.
If you are graduating – God be praised for his goodness in your life! God has plans to prosper you, to give you hope and a future. In Jesus he’s already gotten the hard part done. What you do until that time you meet God face to face is up to you. Keep God in your plans, live to his glory, and no matter how your life turns out, you will succeed.
Topic(s): Sanctification
Book(s): Jeremiah
Tag(s): Confirmation
Speaker(s): Fred Guldberg