"Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him."- Jeremiah 17:7
Hope you are doing good! This morning I came across this beautiful passage in Jeremiah 17 which calls us to be the blessed of the Lord. The blessing or the curse depends on our choices. These are some truths that can be universally applied to each one of us no matter which walk of life we come from! First let us discuss the three kinds of people who can actually lose out on the blessings of God.
1) The One who puts his trust in man- Jer 17:5,6 -
Jeremiah actually calls this kind of person as a cursed one. Since he puts his trust in man and puts his strength in flesh. He goes on to describe the condition of this man is like a shrub in the desert place. The growth of this plant is stunted meaning its barely alive. It is also called a lonely bush in the wilderness. This is its survival strategy as there is very little water and nutrients in that parched place due to low rainfall & poor soil (salt land). When we put our trust in people, it is sure that they will disappoint us sometime or other in life! Our Anchor in life should always be God and not people, no matter how powerful or influential they may be, our God is bigger than any other person on this earth.
Antidote - Psalms 118:8,9 "It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the Lord, than to put confidence in princes." NKJV
2) The One who trusts in his Own heart- Jeremiah 17:9,10
Nowadays there's a popular saying, " go by your heart." Though this may seem like the right thing to do, the Word of God speaks differently about this. Jeremiah 17: 9,10 says "the heart is deceitful above all things and also is desperately wicked."
Proverbs 28:26 says "Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom will be delivered."
Proverbs 3:7 says "Do not be wise in your own eyes, fear the Lord and depart from evil."
As long as our hearts and minds are surrendered and sanctified by the Blessed Holy Spirit we can make wise decisions but if we put our trust in our human knowledge or past experience, we may be wrong. Wrong choices without being guided by the blessed Holy Spirit may cause us to make wrong decisions and thereby lead us away from the blessings God has kept for us.
Antidote - Psalms 37:5 " Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him and He will help you."- NLT
3) The One who trusts in his Riches-
In Jeremiah 17:11, we come across another beautiful imagery that explains this point beautifully. Here we read about "the partridge that broods but does not hatch" - this refers to the Jewish belief that the partridge is a bird that steals the eggs of other birds and adds them to her own. So when the eggs hatch, the chicks leave the partridge because they really don't belong to that bird. Similar is the case of people who have acquired riches unjustly. Such wealth disappears just when the owner is counting on it for security.
Psalms 49:16-20 NLT also speaks about this :" Be not afraid when a man becomes rich, when the glory of his house increases. For when he dies he will carry nothing away; his glory will not go down after him. For though, while he lives, he counts himself blessed —and though you get praise when you do well for yourself— his soul will go to the generation of his fathers, who will never again see light. Man in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish."
Even Jesus speaks a parable about a rich man who built bigger barns to store more crops - Luke 12:16-21. We read that God calls this man a fool. In spite of all the wealth that he amassed, He could not be truly blessed.
Antidote - Proverbs 11:28 "He who trusts in His riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish like a green leaf.
THE TRULY BLESSED ONE !
How then can we be blessed? We can find the key in Jeremiah 17:7-8.
Psalms 1: 2-3 describes them. Those who trust in the Lord are those who take delight in His Word. They will be like a tree that is planted by rivers of water and thus brings forth its fruit in its season. Their leaves will not wither, and whatever such people do, they will prosper.
They are the ones who trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on their own understanding .In all their ways they acknowledge Him and He directs their paths." Prov 3:5,6
How can such people who are totally surrendered to the Lord not be blessed by Him? They are the ones who are blessed to be a blessing. We are called and created not just to survive here on this earth but for so much more! We are called to Blossom and Bloom where God has planted us.
https://youtu.be/Jnnib4qZg8A?si=FnGm662COkQw42Xz