Jeremiah 17:5-10 (NRSV)
Read Jeremiah 17:5-10 on biblegateway.com
Verse 5Thus says the Lord: Cursed are those who trust in mere mortals and make mere flesh their strength, whose hearts turn away from the Lord. Verse 6They shall be like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see when relief comes. They shall live in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land. Verse 7Blessed are those who trust in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. Verse 8They shall be like a tree planted by water, sending out its roots by the stream. It shall not fear when heat comes, and its leaves shall stay green; in the year of drought it is not anxious, and it does not cease to bear fruit. Verse 9The heart is devious above all else; it is perverse- who can understand it? Verse 10I the Lord test the mind and search the heart, to give to all according to their ways, according to the fruit of their doings.
Devotion
Remember the black-clothed, handlebar-mustachioed villain of cartoons? I can picture him pulling his cape over his head and shrinking away with the words, "Curses, foiled again." The villain makes all the mistakes that Jeremiah lists. He trusts in mere mortals. He makes mere flesh his strength. His heart is turned away from Yahweh. He does not have the vision to see when relief comes.
The opposite of the villain is the hero. In Jeremiah's picture, the blessing is with those who trust in the Lord. In Jeremiah's picture, the hero is like a tree whose roots tap into living water. Elsewhere Jeremiah laments that people have forsaken the fountain of living water. The hero, by contrast, has tapped into the living water, the source of which is Jesus.
Prayer
Lord, the heat may be on today. There may be a drought. I pray that you would bless me with your living water so that I may stay green and bear fruit. Amen.