Walk The Talk

Imagine if a real estate agent called you and said, “I have a great deal for you. There’s a beautiful property in the most scenic part of town. It’s easily worth $10 million but I’ll let you buy it for just $10,000. What do you think? By the way, the property is located in Ukraine.” Most would immediately turn away from the deal as buying a property in a warzone is a high-risk investment. If the property eventually falls into the enemy’s hands, it will be as good as worthless.

In today’s passage, God spoke to Jeremiah and revealed that Hanamel would soon approach him to buy a field at Anathoth. When Hanamel did so, Jeremiah recognised that God was ultimately the one orchestrating this incident and instructing him to buy the field. Jeremiah obeyed and made the necessary arrangements to buy the field. While this may seem like any ordinary transaction, the timing at which it took place made it a ludicrous investment. At that time, Jerusalem was already under siege - the Babylonians had surrounded it and would sweep into the city to conquer it in no time. Purchasing land in such a situation seems utterly ridiculous!

Why then did Jeremiah do so? The act of purchasing the field in a time of nationwide calamity was Jeremiah’s expression of faith in God’s promise of future restoration where “houses, field and vineyards shall again be bought in this land” (v15). While defeat was on everyone else’s mind, Jeremiah’s act reminded the people of God’s intention to redeem and restore even after the pain of defeat and the trauma of exile. As a prophet who had been faithfully delivering God’s messages, Jeremiah literally "put his money where his mouth is".

Jeremiah acted in audacious faith by obeying God’s difficult command. He walked the talk. As you look to God and desire for revival in your personal life, you can pause and ask yourself these questions. We claim to desire revival and believe God can bring about one, but what are you doing in faith to prepare for it? Is there a difficult command from God you need to choose to obey, just like Jeremiah did? For those of us who feel like we have made “ludicrous investments” in the Kingdom and have not seen tangible returns, will we keep pressing on in faith?

"God, show me the way before us and let me have faith to walk the way that You have shown."