Set Up Road Markers

Sustaining Hope
The Days Are Surely Coming
Restoration

Jeremiah 31:18-25  The Message

^18-19 “I’ve heard the contrition of Ephraim.
    Yes, I’ve heard it clearly, saying,
‘You trained me well.
    You broke me, a wild yearling horse, to the saddle.
Now put me, trained and obedient, to use.
    You are my God.
After those years of running loose, I repented.
    After you trained me to obedience,
I was ashamed of my past, my wild, unruly past.
    Humiliated, I beat on my chest.
Will I ever live this down?’

²⁰ “Oh! Ephraim is my dear, dear son,
    my child in whom I take pleasure!
Every time I mention his name,
    my heart bursts with longing for him!
Everything in me cries out for him.
    Softly and tenderly I wait for him.” God’s Decree.

^21-22 “Set up signposts to mark your trip home.
    Get a good map.
Study the road conditions.
    The road out is the road back.
Come back, dear virgin Israel,
    come back to your hometowns.
How long will you flit here and there, indecisive?
    How long before you make up your fickle mind?
God will create a new thing in this land:
    A transformed woman will embrace the transforming God!”

^23-24 A Message from Israel’s God-of-the-Angel-Armies: “When I’ve turned everything around and brought my people back, the old expressions will be heard on the streets: ‘God bless you!’ . . . ‘O True Home!’ . . . ‘O Holy Mountain!’ All Judah’s people, whether in town or country, will get along just fine with each other.

²⁵ I’ll refresh tired bodies;
I’ll restore tired souls.

 
For Reflection

What are the sign posts on your road to righteousness?  What benchmarks your faith in God?  How do you know that you are on the right path?

 

Pray

that God will lead you in paths of righteousness.  Pray so that you can listen to God's directions.  Pray, asking directions in your God journey.  Pray for your return to your home in the hollows of God's hands.