Jeremiah 17:7 – Walking in His Promises

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, And whose hope is the Lord.”

Jeremiah 17:7 (NKJV)

This is the way all of us Christians should live our lives.  When God said this in Jeremiah He also said “Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans, who rely on human strength, and turn their hearts away from the Lord”.  Knowing myself, understanding human nature and people in general, I’m sorry to say, but people will always let you down.  It might not be their intention but inevitably it will happen.  Plain and simple men/women will always fail you but the Lord will not. 

Now I don’t want to be insensitive about the current situation but I feel like I’ve been prepared for days like what we’re experiencing now.  People have asked me how, and the easiest way to answer is that I trust in the Lord.  A few years back I was in a hospital room thinking I was going to die, and no human being could help me.  No doctor could figure out what was happening and no doctor knew how to stop something they couldn’t even diagnose.  That’s when I laid there and thought, it’s all up to God.  Whether I was to live more years on this earth, or if I was finally going home it was up to the Lord.  This is the time that I had to face my own mortality.  Prior to this, I didn’t really think about whether I would live or die, I was still young.  I kind of lived here on earth like I was going to be here forever.  This situation changed me and caused me to want to do MORE for the Lord.   I didn’t think I was living up to my calling (even though I’m not sure what it is).  I knew I needed to do more for my brothers and sisters here on earth, because I feel they are trying to push God out of everything.  Now is the time to be more bold than ever because our brothers and sisters need us.  It’s time to stand up and make the changes in our lives we know need to happen.  We need to start walking-the-walk rather than talking-the-talk.  Now don’t get me wrong, this applies to me too! I’m in my 40’s and I still haven’t figured it all out.  One thing I can tell you though is I’m trying.  I’m trying in my marriage, I’m trying with my kids and I’m trying to be a good example wherever I’m at.  In my younger life I did what I wanted, treated people how I wanted and didn’t care how people felt.  Boy did I need a reality check!

The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked.  Who really knows how bad it is?

Jeremiah 17:9

The general overview of Jeremiah 17 is sin and punishment.  Jeremiah was telling God that people scoff at him and say “Why don’t your predictions come true?”  But the Lord tells him that He searches all hearts and examines secret motives.  I give all people their due rewards according to what their actions deserve.  Jeremiah then begs for double destruction of these wicked people.  He begs the Lord to show him mercy.  Then at the end of chapter 17, there’s a whole paragraph about observing the Sabbath.  And for some reason… this is one of God’s commandments that I’ve had a hard time committing to.  Since I was young, I have disobeyed this commandment over and over again.  In the past year, God has put this in my mind and on my heart big time.  Isn’t it interesting that with all that’s going on within our nation with the social distancing, that we are somewhat forced into a type of Sabbath? Given the current circumstance of our world and the fact that God has made it known to me that I’m supposed to observe the Sabbath, I’m really trying this time.  Habits are hard to break, but this is an important one. So I guess running to the store or working on the car can wait at least one more day!  

To bring these full circle, it’s important for us to ask ourselves these questions and really examine where our hearts stand. Do you trust in the Lord?  Do you really? Do you have hope that it gets better after this life?  Do your actions reflect that you trust in Him?  Or do you trust in people, the government, the news?  At the end of the day, we have God and that’s truly all we need.

May grace and blessings be in your path,

Mundo