WHEN OTHERS RAN OUT THEY RAN IN
After the walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt, people were needed to repopulate the city, which had been destroyed some 70+ years earlier. It was a run-down and dangerous place where few wanted to live. So when certain men willingly volunteered to live in the city, the people blessed them for their self-sacrifice and courage. Little by little, the city grew prosperous and safe again.
After the incident in New York City on September 11, 2001, it was reported that someone had written this saying in the dusty window of a building near the twin towers: “When others ran out, we ran in.” This described the heroic efforts of New York’s first-responders who ran in to rescue people, while others ran away.
It is tempting to turn a blind eye to the trouble of our cities and nation. To just let people perish without hope because it means getting out of our comfort zone and risking ourselves to help them. Yet, the Lord still calls believers who will “willingly offer themselves” to dwell in such places and reach out to the people living there. He still blesses those who will be a blessing to others in the city.
As the prophet Jeremiah told the Jewish exiles in Babylon, “Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper” (Jer. 29:7).
PRAYER: Dear Father, help us to be a blessing to the city to which You have called us. We pray for our city and its leaders, its pastors, its first responders, and all its inhabitants. Bring the peace of the gospel to our city and nation, we pray. In Jesus’ name, amen.