The Blessed Man

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. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and it never fails to bear fruit."

I read this verse last week and was struck by some of the simple truths in it. I think that this is amazingly profound and could easily be a 20 minute sermon...but I'll just keep my thoughts really, really brief.

1- a person who trusts in the Lord positions themself close to the Lord (the tree was planted close to the water)

2- it still gets hot for the tree close to the water- hard times WILL come...even if you trust in the Lord, but the Lord always provides and you will make it through the heat

3- there will be dry times, even for Christians. There will be times when you feel distant from God and your relationship feels dead. Yet even in those times God is still at work in you (the tree never fails to bear fruit...even in a drought). How is this possible? It is possible because even in the drought, even though the tree thinks it hasn't received water in weeks, deep down under the soil the roots are still receiving water from the stream. Even in our drought times, if you position yourself close to the Lord, you will receive nourishment from God.

I hope one of those three things can encourage you today.