“Through your own fault you will lose the inheritance I gave you.” (Jer 17:4)
Wow. What a statement! So many times you like to place the blame for your own problems on someone else, don’t you? Like your spouse, for instance? Or your parents? Your pastor? Or how about—ahhh, here’s a good one—the devil!!! Some people even try to blame God for their problems! But Jeremiah makes it very clear: “Through your own fault you will lose the inheritance I gave you.” (Jer 17:4)
Well, you ask, just what is it that I do that is horrible enough to make lose out on eternal life? Jeremiah gives us the answer in the very next verse: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the LORD” (Jer 17:5). My friends, you can lose your inheritance—life eternal—when you place your trust in yourselves or in any other human being or human invention! Placing your trust in things of this world makes your hearts turn “away from the LORD”! Wow. That’s pretty scary. But surely Jeremiah is exaggerating here! Or is he? Let’s look at what he has to say about those who are blessed: “But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him.” (Jer 17:7). Notice that you are called “cursed” when you trust in things of this world, but when you trust in the LORD, you are called “blessed”!
Just to clarify things a little further, Jeremiah goes on to explain just what “cursed” and “blessed” mean! One who is “cursed” is “. . . like a bush in the wastelands; he will not see prosperity when it comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives.” (Jer 17:6). Well, that sounds a bit harsh. Why is one who is cursed like a bush in the wasteland? We find the answer in Jer. 17:13: “Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust because they have forsaken the LORD, the spring of living water.” (Jer 17:13). By not trusting God, we become like a bush in the wasteland, dwelling in the parched places of the desert because we have forsaken our Spring of Living Water! By contrast, those who are blessed, that is, those who place their trust in the Lord, are: “. . . 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 never fails to bear fruit.” (Jer 17:8). Why? Because these have NOT forsaken their Spring of Living Water! Instead, they have put their trust in it!
What will it be, my friends? Would you lose your inheritance with the LORD by choosing to place your trust in the things of this world instead of in God, and thus resigning yourself to not seeing prosperity, to dwelling in the parched places of the desert, because you have cut yourselves off from your Spring of Living Water? Or will you choose to KEEP your inheritance with LORD by placing your trust in Him and Him alone, thus assuring yourselves a spot right at the Spring of Living Water?
Choose life, my friends! Place your trust in God for every problem that comes your way, no matter how big or small! God longs to help you! He even tells you to “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:6-7). But not only does He long to help you, He knows that by placing your worries upon Him, by trusting Him explicitly, you will be guaranteed a constant supply of “living water”! Won’t you answer the Savior’s Call today? Won’t you cry out to God with me today: “Heal me, O LORD, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise” (Jer 17:14)?
In His love,
Lyn
Lyn Chaffart, Moderator, The Nugget, Scriptural Nuggets ( www.scripturalnuggets.org ), Answers2Prayer Ministries, www.Answers2Prayer.org