This week’s devotions carry the title of “LOVE Is Coming.” We mentioned yesterday that every human being desires a good and just leader and to live in a political order that is also good and just. These two yearnings give us the first two letters of our acronym LOVE: Leader and Order. The leader we seek is found in the person of Jesus. The order we desire is found within God’s reign inaugurated by Jesus with his presence on earth, his ministry, his death and resurrection.

“The time is coming,” writes Jeremiah. The time is coming when a righteous branch from the line of David will do what is just and right. Jeremiah anticipated the coming of Jesus, this LOVE incarnate, who shows us “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6, CEB). Despite living under the rule of Assyria and Babylon, Jeremiah can see a better future, a better day, one that will be characterized by justice and righteousness in the land. “In those days,” writes Jeremiah, “Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. And this is what will be called: The LORD Is Our Righteousness” (CEB).

Do we not also long for a day when our land will be known for justice and righteousness? Do we not long to live in safety with our families, our neighbors, our fellow citizens? Jeremiah says that God’s promise to “raise up a righteous branch from David’s line” is a gracious promise—that is, a promise for each of us flowing out of the love of God and the God of love. This gracious promise comes without price—it is freely given because it forms part of God’s divine plan for humanity.