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On Purpose: A Lent Devotional JourneySample

On Purpose: A Lent Devotional Journey

DAY 2 OF 40

Day 2 | Seek shalom

Reflection

If all your prayers for your local community were answered, what might you see as you walked around?

You might find children playing in a beautifully maintained park, elderly people enjoying good company, and younger adults exercising in clean air.

What wouldn’t you find? No litter perhaps, but also no foodbanks. There’d be no sense of danger.

In short, people would be safe with all their needs met, and they’d have the opportunity to flourish, whatever their age or stage.

This is a picture of Shalom. You might be familiar with this Hebrew word or even use it as a greeting.

On the surface, it means ‘peace’. But its true meaning is so much deeper, so much richer than merely the absence of violence. Our ideal community is safe, yes – but it’s also fair, just, and nurturing to the souls of all who call it home.

When Jeremiah instructs those currently in exile to seek the peace and prosperity of the city where they find themselves, this is what he is talking about.

They are in exile – but God commands them to seek the good of their captors and to build a context for flourishing as they find themselves removed from the world they were familiar with.

Jeremiah is making it plain: do not hide yourself away in this new place. Be an active member of society. Contribute. Do whatever you can to make your surroundings more like that picture of the ultimate community.

And from here, both 2,500 years ago and today, the people of God may begin to find their purpose as agents of shalom.

In our workplaces, families, friendships, clubs, societies, and neighbourhoods, how can we be active, involved ‘agents of shalom’, trying to cultivate even the smallest amount of God’s creation through our words and actions? In this series, we will try to answer that question.

The instruction to the exiles is the same for us: resist the temptation to disengage from a society you might be misaligned with, and take up the role of agent of shalom.

Where in your life might you be tempted to disengage rather than be an agent of shalom?

Father, show us how to work for peace and prosperity in the spaces and places we find ourselves in every day. Amen.

Scripture

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About this Plan

On Purpose: A Lent Devotional Journey

Discover God-given purpose in everything you do. This Lent devotional journey invites you to think differently about your whole life – your family, friendships, work, interests, and neighbourhoods. Over 40 days, you’ll get to grips with the Bible’s view of purpose, and read true stories of how that purpose is worked out in all kinds of Christians’ lives today.

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We would like to thank LICC - The London Institute for Contemporary Christianity for providing this plan. For more information, please visit: https://licc.org.uk

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