plant

 This week we begin worship with:

Jeremiah 31:28

And it shall come to pass that as I have watched over them to pluck up and

break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring harm, so I will watch over them

to build and to plant, declares the LORD.

This verse comes in the middle of Jeremiah's prophecy concerning the restoration of Israel and the institution of the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31).  The first half of which occurred as a dream, and from which he woke and declared:

Jeremiah 31:26

At this I awoke and looked, and my sleep was pleasant to me.

As a farmer, as a shepherd, as a gardener, there are times when you must "bring harm".  This is for the health of the crop, the flock, and the tree.  That time is now past.  It is now time to plant!  

Watch what is planted . . . the Word of God.

Jeremiah 31:33
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.  

And from the New Testament and the parable of the Sower: 

Luke 8:11
Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.