Ponderings

January 1 dawned cold in northeast Arkansas, but I snuggled up under a blanket sitting in mother-in-love's bedroom glider with the Word in my lap and a brand new devotional opened to 'Day One".

I read from Genesis 1 & 2 about God working creatively and orderly in our lives.  But The words that flowed through my mind were from Jeremiah the prophet.  So, I turned the pages to refresh my mind of what God had really said.

"For thus says the Lord, 'When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place.  

'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.

'Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.

'You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.

'I will be found by you,' declares the Lord, 'and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,' declares the Lord, 'and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.'

Jeremiah 29:10-14

I think we all are tempted to skip over that first part from time to time.  We don't want the captivity for 70 years...or to think that it might actually be for our welfare and to provide us with a future.  We only want to look at verse 11.  

What caught my attention this time and has continued to stay with me are the words from verses 13 and 14.  "You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.  I will be found by you, declares the Lord..."  

Oh, how I want to find Him in 2014.

And that's what I'm pondering today.  How about you?

ponder: to think or consider, especially quietly, soberly and deeply

Just a note: I searched and searched for the creator of the artwork at the top of this post but couldn't find it.  It was something I pinned on Pinterest and was unable to find the original source.