Jeremiah 17:5-17

"But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him.  He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream.  It does not fear when heat comes; it's leaves are always green.  It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit."  Jeremiah 17:7-8

There is much anxiety and emptiness in the hearts and minds of most people in this world.  For the Christian there should always be a sense of peace and resting in the Lord.  For even Christians, however, worry sometimes creeps into our lives.  Worry is sin.  Worry occurs in our lives, because we are trusting in something or someone other than God.  Worry means we are making someone or something else in our lives more important than the Lord.

Sinful worry involves having our roots or foundations in life in something other than the Lord.  Sinful worry involves putting our trust and hope in things other than the Lord.  Jeremiah 17:5 says, "Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the Lord."  If we put anything before the Lord we will be like a dried up "bush in the wastelands" according to Jeremiah 17:6.  Such lives are meaningless.

What makes you and I anxious?  What makes us worry?  What are our hearts set on?  What we worry about may be a clue as to what is becoming more important to us than the Lord in our lives.  Many things can be "good" things in themselves, but even "good" things must not be more important to us than the Lord.  Is our jobs or careers more important to us than the Lord?  What about our families?  What about our reputations or what people think of us?

Even when we think we are doing the Lord's work we must be very careful that people's perceptions of us does not become more important to us than the Lord.  We need to be emptied of ourselves and filled with the Lord.  If we are chasing after anything other than the Lord's will, we will not even notice the blessings and prosperity that do come to us.  We will still be discontent.  Jeremiah 17:6 says it will be as if we are living "in the parched places of the desert."

What a contrast there will be in our lives, if we are truly resting and trusting in the Lord!  Jeremiah 17:7-8 says "But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him.  He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream."  Blessed and joyful are we, if we trust in the Lord and find our total fulfillment in Him!  Blessed are we, if we trust Him and have our confidence in Him alone.  He will fill us with His living spiritual waters.  He will give us all we need for time and eternity.  In our natural state we are born in sin, and we are like a tree which is a "bush in the wastelands."  But the Lord Jesus through His wonderful salvation and work in our lives transplants us by living waters of His Holy Spirit!  We become rooted in Him!

Such a tree or life in Christ according to Jeremiah 17:8b "does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green.  It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit."  Such a life in Christ does not fear and wilt in times of difficulty and challenge.  Such a life continues to trust and rest in the Lord even in the difficult times in life and continues to bear spiritual fruit.  Such a life finds his or her joy and confidence in the Lord alone and puts the Lord first in his or her life.  May we be deeply rooted in the Lord.  He alone is our "spring of living water." (Jeremiah 17:13b)  He alone is our "refuge in the day of disaster." (Jeremiah 17:17b).  He alone must be the Lord of our lives!