Can you stand the heat of life?

Our blessings passage today comes from Jeremiah 17. Like in Psalm 1 where the blessed man was contrasted with the wicked man, so Jeremiah presents God’s description of the blessed or God favored man versus the worldly or self-sufficient man. I looked at this passage in several translations but really liked the Message as it seemed to explain the essence of this passage the best. Jeremiah 17:5-8

^5-6God’s Message:

“Cursed is the strong one
    who depends on mere humans,
Who thinks he can make it on muscle alone
    and sets God aside as dead weight.
He’s like a tumbleweed on the prairie,
    out of touch with the good earth.
He lives rootless and aimless
    in a land where nothing grows. The man who depends on himself or this world is not rooted or grounded in anything but like a tumbleweed, rolling around in life, not producing any fruit and bumping from one thing to another.

^7-8“But blessed is the man who trusts me, God,
    the woman who sticks with God.
They’re like trees replanted in Eden,
    putting down roots near the rivers—
Never a worry through the hottest of summers,
    never dropping a leaf,
Serene and calm through droughts,
    bearing fresh fruit every season. The men and women of God are quite the contrast being rooted, growing, flourishing, trusting and bearing fruit even when storms, droughts or things get ‘hot’ in life.

Which type of person are you? I know from time to time we can all be tumbleweeds- tossed to and fro by the winds of the world, but we have learned that trusting and clinging to Jesus can bring us through every situation. Walking with Him keeps us steady and calm in the midst of life’s storms and gives us a life that is fruitful and honoring towards God.

I challenge you to walk like the blessed man today. See if you don’t have a song of praise in your heart and your steps are lighter as you trust and cling to Jesus.