Booty

Jer 45:1 {T{his} {is} the message which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch the son of Neriah, when he had written down these words in a book at Jeremiah's dictation, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying:
Jer 45:2 "Thus says the LORD the God of Israel to you, O Baruch:
Jer 45:3 'You said, "Ah, woe is me! For the LORD has added sorrow to my pain; I am weary with my groaning and have found no rest.'"
Jer 45:4 "Thus you are to say to him, 'Thus says the LORD, "Behold, what I have built I am about to tear down, and what I have planted I am about to uproot, that is, the whole land."
Jer 45:5 'But you, are you seeking great things for yourself? Do not seek {them;} for behold, I am going to bring disaster on all flesh,' declares the LORD, 'but I will give your life to you as booty in all the places where you may go.' "

Oh my. Thats an eye openner isn't it. In a culture where "the one with the most toys wins," God speaks of tearing down and uprooting. But He does it with authority. He's tearing down what He built, which just happens to be everything. God is uprooting what He planted, which also happens to be everything.

Everything? Yup. Everything. Even America. Now, I'm not a doomsayer, prophesying that the end is near. I have no idea whats coming down for us. But America was built by God. For that matter, so was Iraq, Iran, China and Sudan. All authority comes from God, even those who deny God, like North Korea. Our greatness is not our own. It comes from God's hand.

Its that last verse that really got my attention: "I will give your life to you as booty." Whoa! What about all my toys? They were on loan from God in the first place. Okay, I know that. Everything in the earth is the Lords. Sure, my 'things' come from God. But my life? Yup. That comes from God also. My life is not my own. If God so chooses, my life is over. The life in me came from Him in the first place. My breath is on loan. This is a shocking thing to learn, again.