[Darris McNeely] We've been going through a series talking about life in the mind view that is either half-full or half-empty, the old cliché about the glass of water that we know about. But it really does teach us an important lesson. There's a story from the Bible. It's one my favorite stories of living a positive, long-term approach to life. It's in Jeremiah chapter 32 and it's the story of Jeremiah who buys a field. Now, buying a piece of real estate isn't anything out of the ordinary, except in this case with Jeremiah it came what you would consider a low-market, a bad market and not an opportune time to be investing. Jerusalem was surrounded by the Babylonian army. The armies of the King Nebuchadnezzar were going to take over Jerusalem. The nation of Judah was coming to its end.

Jeremiah knew it because he'd been talking about it for quite a long time and it was finally there, and Jeremiah was not only watching that, he was watching it from prison in the King's house. And the Word of God came to him, as you go into the accounts of Jeremiah 32, and God told him in a vision, "You're gonna be visited by a man named Hanamel, who is your cousin, and he is going to offer you to buy a field and you need to take him up on that offer." Well, sure enough, Hanamel came into Jeremiah's cell, offered him to buy the field because it was his right to do so, and Jeremiah bought the field, in verse 9, from his cousin. He weighed out 17 shekels of silver. He signed the deed, took the witnesses, went through all the title search, and filed it with a clerk, and bought the field.

And then he went to God and he said, "God, why did I have to do this? Prices are low. We're not even gonna be a country anymore. We can't even transfer title anymore because a foreign power's gonna be coming in. Everything's going to be different." God says, "I did it because I'm teaching you a lesson that I am going to restore the fortunes of Jerusalem and the nation. People will come back." And as it goes through the whole chapter, it's very long, don't have time to read it all, God says, "That once again, they will be my people and I will be their God, and I'll give them one heart and one way that they may fear me forever" (Jeremiah 32:1-45). But that was going to be 70 years in the future, beyond Jeremiah's lifetime. And yet he bought something for a legacy, on God's word, on faith, according to God's promise.

And God says, "They will once again buy and sell land in Jerusalem," according to His way and law, under His sovereignty, "But, Jeremiah, you do this," and Jeremiah did it. He did it because in spite of the passion that he had, the negative consequences of his own prophetic message that he lived with and dealt with, Jeremiah had a half-full approach when it came to God. And he believed God, God's promises. He had faith and he acted upon that every day of his life, even to putting down 17 shekels of silver out of his own pocket to buy a piece land that, essentially, he would never use and not have any control over as an example. And it stands for us today of a tremendous lesson of faith.

As we look at life and the approach that we have and whether or not our life, like this glass with water, is either half-empty or half-full, I hope you will seriously consider, with this example and the others we've talked about in this series, of being in control of your life and being the one who's pouring the water into the glass. And regardless of where the water might be at any given time, you're in charge. You're in control. And you recognize that you have some, which means you have an abundance. Take that approach and you're going to have a life of joy. You're gonna have a life that is aiming you straight toward the kingdom of God and the mindset of those servants who Christ will say, "Well done, good and faithful servant."

That's BT Daily. Hope you've enjoyed these series. Join us next time.