Pray for the Community
This is my call to you,
whomever you are, wherever you are, to pray for your neighborhood and your
town. People are hurting. People are frustrated. People need Jesus, but they don’t
know him and don’t know they need him. Through Jeremiah, God told the people of
Judah, God’s chosen, to “seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you
into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf” (Jer. 29:7). They were not in
the City of David, Zion, the place God called home. They were far, far
from home. Yet the Lord told them, not only to seek the welfare of those
Babylonians who had taken them into exile, but to pray for them.
What is exile? How does
one exist when he or she is forced to leave home and go to a foreign place?
Paul considered himself a
foreigner in his present age. “Our
citizenship is in Heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20).
In fact, his only motivation for remaining on this earth was to help
people grow in their faith in Christ (Philippians 1:24-26). That was motivation
enough. Paul joyfully (1:26) remained and, like Jeremiah, sought the wellbeing
of his age. He was convinced wellbeing is tied to faith in Jesus.
I am too. We aren't at home here. Our place is in Heaven, with Jesus. Yet, he has us here. Most of our neighbors
in Carrboro and Chapel Hill don’t go to church or in any noticeable way live
lives of faith in Christ. Even if they appear to live happy, fulfilled lives,
without Jesus, they are lost. God has planted us here to help our unbelieving
neighbors find their way to Him. So, pray for our town. Pray for those on your
street who don’t follow Jesus. Pray, and when the time is right, invite someone
to church, or share why Jesus means so much to you.
