“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.” Jeremiah 17:7-8
I love the way God’s Word paints pictures to illustrate spiritual truths.
Like a “tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream.”
Not bothered by persecution or times of trouble. Remaining steadfast and unchanged. Continuing to glorify the Lord in word and in deed. Producing spiritual fruit.
Living life in the Spirit!
Living in the Spirit means our faith is continually being freshen by the water of life…moment by moment and day by day until our confidence and trust in God are so obvious that even total strangers will notice and comment on them.
Even in the midst of some very dire predictions and depressing news Jeremiah is able to throw in a little parable of life and hope.
God’s Spirit the third person of the Trinity is described in the Bible in several ways…. as oil, wind, fire ,and water, to mention a few. However, the symbol of water to illustrate the person and work of the Holy Spirit is the picture Jeremiah is panting for us in ch 17.
I have been parched and dry, having drank from broken springs of water that did not satisfy me.
Jesus tells the woman at the well...”If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked Him and He would have given you living water.” Jn 4:10.
The woman had been drinking from the river of her relationships…….Jesus offered her a spiritual experience that would quench her thirst – a relationship with the living God.
A little while later Christ uses the picture of water again. In the midst of a ritual where priests carried in large vats of water and poured it out, Jesus stands and in a loud voice says; ” whoever believes in me as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow within him.”Jn 7:38-39
Another picture of water in the Bible is that of the river of life…Ezekiel describes the fruit trees that line the banks and the river of life flowing from the throne of God.
As I went back, I saw on the bank of the river very many trees on the one side and on the other. And he said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, and enters the sea; when the water flows into the sea, the water will become fresh. And wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish. For this water goes there, that the waters of the sea may become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes. Fishermen will stand beside the sea. From Engedi to Eneglaim it will be a place for the spreading of nets. Its fish will be of very many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea. But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they are to be left for salt. And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither, nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.” Ez 47:7-12
This is the same river Jeremiah had in mind in ch. 17 and the same river the apostle John saw in his vision.
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. Rev.22:1-2
The source of the river is God Himself. Ezekiel observed that everything that touched the river lived and wherever the river flowed there was life.
Look at verses 7 & 8 in ch 17 of Jeremiah once again….
“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.” Jeremiah 17:7-8
We do not produce the fruit of the spirit. We must allow God to produce that fruit in our life. The tree was planted by the river but, it had to “send out its roots into the stream.”
We choose daily…. Where will we send out our roots?…… Will we drink from the living water?
In Awe of Him Daily!
Robin
Leave a Reply