Cursed or Blessed?

A friend and I were studying Jeremiah 17 this week and in particular the contrast between verses 5-6 and 7-8.  Cursed are those who trust in man, rely on flesh, whose hearts turn away from the Lord.  They will be like “stunted shrubs” (NLT) with no hope, they will be barren, in the wilderness, living in an “uninhabited salty land”.  In contrast, those who trust in the Lord will be blessed, they make the Lord their hope and confidence.  They are like trees planted along a riverbank with roots going deep into the water.  No worries, no fear despite the drought.  “Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit.”  Take some time and look, clause by clause, at the contrast between these two pairs of verses.

God’s not walking around in heaven smiting people and cursing them.  The cursed ones are those who have turned “their hearts away from the Lord”.  That’s something that we do.  So are you cursed or blessed?  Is your heart turned towards the Lord at the moment?  Notice that the environment and circumstances of both the cursed and the blessed is drought – and yet the one who “trusts in the Lord” is not parched but fruitful.  Whatever situation you find yourself in at the moment, why not turn again to Jesus and ask him to help you trust Him once more.  Beautiful promises await those “have made the Lord their hope and confidence.”