Buy the Field

It’s hard for me to believe that cryptocurrency has been around since the late 90’s.  I still don’t feel I understand it or NFTs, and I am not ready to trust them.

I can hear the old people of yore saying “I don’t trust this new fangled paper money. Give me coins made of silver”. Or, more recently, “You want me to use this plastic card instead of cash?! Where exactly is the money? I don’t trust it.”

The day may come when my kids are paying for my nursing home with Dogecoin or Bitcoin or something else.

When we are young, we tend to be more open to trying new things and taking risks. As our time gets shorter, we tend to be less trusting of new things, more careful with our investments, and less open to all risks.

Good thing we serve the God who is the same “yesterday, today, and forever”. [Hebrews 13:8] When life around us starts feeling like it is changing too quickly, we can rest in the unchanging God. [James 1:17] There is no risk to putting your trust in Him or His promises, even as our lives inevitably change with the times.

This all came to mind as I was reading an interesting segment of Jeremiah today. Most of the prophesies God gave to Jeremiah were “gloom and doom” – so much so that Zedekiah sent Jeremiah to prison, saying, “Why do you prophesy as you do?” – referring to the prophesy of the nation being conquered by Babylon.

In Jeremiah 31, God sends word that the people of Judah will survive what is about to come upon them. He talks about His everlasting love, and reminds them of his promise that they will return to plant and farm the land that was about to be taken from them.

And then (in chapter 32) God gives instructions for Jeremiah to “put his money where his mouth is”. That is, Jeremiah is to buy a field and seal up the official documentation and hide it so that it will endure until the people return. Even Jeremiah seems to be a little baffled by this, but does what God tells him to do – as always.

And then the message returns to the destruction and captivity. But the final segment of Jeremiah 32 returns to restoration.

Jeremiah 32:42-44 [NLT] 42 "This is what the LORD says: Just as I have brought all these calamities on them, so I will do all the good I have promised them. 43 Fields will again be bought and sold in this land about which you now say, 'It has been ravaged by the Babylonians, a desolate land where people and animals have all disappeared.' 44 Yes, fields will once again be bought and sold--deeds signed and sealed and witnessed--in the land of Benjamin and here in Jerusalem, in the towns of Judah and in the hill country, in the foothills of Judah and in the Negev, too. For someday I will restore prosperity to them. I, the LORD, have spoken!"

Basically, that deed for the land that Jeremiah purchased needed to endure until they day the people came back to work the land again.

We don’t always know what is ahead for our specific lives. I’ve recently had several people I know die from cancer. Disasters come. Or we could just live a long life and die comfortably at a very old age.

Jer 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

We do know from scripture that there will be dark times before Jesus returns. The book of Revelation is our Jeremiah for the end times, whenever those come. But, just like the prophesies God gave to Judah through Jeremiah, the words of Revelation end up with hope. In this case, the hope of a New Heaven and New Earth.

In the meantime, we buy the land. We have children. We suffer loss. We enjoy the blessing that God has provided. We endure pain. And we bet on God to keep His word and promise of restoration.

The land we buy for ourselves is the same land that our forefathers in the faith bought into – “whose builder and maker is God”. And we buy it not with cash or check, credit card or Dogecoin, but with our faith and obedience, and trust in both the precious blood of Jesus, and the Father who accepted that currency.

I may not be ready for NFTs and Cryptocurrency, but I fully trust in the currency of God’s word and the sacrifice of Jesus.

I welcome your comments and questions. You can write me in the comments, or any time at Nancy@DyanmicChristianMinistries.org