Passage:
Jeremiah 17:5-7
Thus says the Lord:
“Cursed is the man who trusts in man
and makes flesh his strength,
whose heart turns away from the Lord.
He is like a shrub in the desert,
and shall not see any good come.
He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness,
in an uninhabited salt land.
“Cursed is the man who trusts in man
and makes flesh his strength,
whose heart turns away from the Lord.
He is like a shrub in the desert,
and shall not see any good come.
He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness,
in an uninhabited salt land.
“Blessed is the man
who trusts in the Lord,
whose trust is the Lord.
He is like a tree planted by water,
that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
for it does not cease to bear fruit.”
whose trust is the Lord.
He is like a tree planted by water,
that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
for it does not cease to bear fruit.”
One of
the themes repeated throughout the New Testament is new life through Jesus Christ. Paul writes about this in detail in Romans
6-8, where he contrasts in vivid terms what he calls “life in the flesh” versus
“life in the Spirit”. According to Jesus
himself, and the authors of the New Testament, the Holy Spirit doesn’t just
awaken our hearts to faith in Jesus. He
actually inhabits our hearts, transforms us from the inside out, and becomes an
alternative life source. Our biological
life is sustained imperfectly and finitely by food, water, and other physical
necessities. Eventually our biological
life runs its course and we die. Jesus
offers a new source of life that truly satisfies and never runs out. He uses metaphors like “living water” (John
4) and being grafted in to the “true vine” (John 15) to describe our new, inextinguishable life in him.
When we
systematically study the Old Testament, we discover that this theme isn’t
unique to the New Testament. Throughout
the Scriptures God repeats this message: True
life is found in me; life without me is death. Through Jeremiah God reiterates the teaching
of Psalm 1: that people rooted in God flourish, grow, and never perish. The illustration in both passages is that of
a tree planted next to a stream. In the
arid world of the Middle East, there are forms of vegetation that spring up
quickly when moisture presents itself in the form of precipitation. These forms of vegetation flourish – as long
as it keeps raining. As soon as the rain
stops, they dry up and blow away as quickly as they appeared. A tree planted by a stream or river derives
its life-sustaining moisture from a constant source. Its life is therefore not dependent on rain,
which comes and goes.
According
to this persistent, biblical metaphor, our natural tendency is to seek
sustenance from inconstant sources of life: money; professional achievement;
the affirmation of employers, clients, fans, and facebook friends; sex and
romance. We strive to sustain our lives
by our own hard work, popularity, or moral righteousness. Jeremiah calls this “trusting in man and
making your flesh your strength.” God
invites us to make him our strength, and to be sustained not by our flesh, but
by his Holy Spirit. We do this by
entrusting the course of our lives to God’s guidance; submitting to the
teaching and principles of Jesus Christ regardless of the cost; and resorting
to prayer rather than relentless strategizing when we are stressed or
troubled. God tells us repeatedly: Don’t depend on the rain of fleeting
resources and changing circumstances for your sustenance. Instead be rooted in the limitless flow of my
Spirit, and find your security and strength in me. I will never let you down.
