This Day in History: 0000-06-09

June 9 – Jeremiah 17:5-10

This is what the Lord says: “Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans, who rely on human strength and turn their hearts away from the Lord. They are like stunted shrubs in the desert, with no hope for the future. They will live in the barren wilderness, in an uninhabited salty land.
But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit. 
The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? But I, the Lord, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve.”

Where is our trust today?  Is it in human strength, or is it in the Lord?  Are we cursed or are we blessed?  Do we think we trust the Lord, but find we’ve been deceived by our own desperately wicked hearts?  Has God searched us and found that our secret motives have made us into stunted shrubs, with no hope for the future?  Are we living in a barren wilderness, desperately thirsty for God’s living water?

OR, are we firmly planted in the hope and confidence of the Lord?  Will He find that no matter what comes our way in this wicked world; whether it be drought, or storm, or the scorching heat, our roots have grown down deep in Him and keep us strong?  Can He find thick clusters of fruit and flourishing green leaves upon the branches of our lives?

My friends, no matter the answer, may we make Psalms 139:23-24 the cry of our hearts, right now! “Search me, oh God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends You, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.”