Many believers could be greatly offended that we would even deal with the issue of Santa Claus. “It is innocent”, you can hear them say. Yet a careful look into the scriptures would deny that this lie is anywhere near innocent.
This verse deals with building and battling (“keep the city”). These two actions describe much of our life and they certainly describe the Christian life.
As believers, we have an amazing inheritance. In this story the Lord commands Jeremiah to buy a field from his uncle in his hometown of Anathoth. Jeremiah is unlikely to get any benefit from the field, but he is to buy it anyway. God uses this event to promise future restoration of Israel. Fields will again be bought and sold in the land. This is a message of hope and promise in a time of destruction.
The Christian life is pictured in the Bible as a race to run; a course to finish. The Apostle Paul was determined to finish his course with joy and the ministry which he had received of the Lord (Acts 20:24). Shortly before his death, he could give this testimony: “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith” (2Timothy 4:7). Notice, he had finished his course.
God's people had sinned and He sent fiery serpents among them which bit them. However, God also gave a way of escape to those who would look and live.
