Read the transcript from today's video devotional.
I'm super excited to jump into the Verse of the Day with you. It's coming from Jeremiah chapter 17 and verse 7, and it says, “But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence.” This verse is really profound because we're jumping in at a place where you see at the beginning there's a transition. It says, "but blessed are those." So it's referring to something that came before it.
If you read in this particular chapter, you'll see how cursed is a man who follows humanity as their primary guide. I think each one of us can relate to the fact that we've been disappointed by putting our faith in people at one point in time or another. It's probably looked different for different ones of us, but even when it comes to our experiences in the faith community, sometimes if we're not careful, we end up putting our confidence and our faith in humanity.
The Disruption of Misplaced Trust
That's something that continually disrupts the rhythm God intended for us to live out here on earth. I think about how human beings, though gifted and influential and inspirational, can be ones who inspire us toward a life with Christ. Maybe we read books from authors or listen to the sermons of pastors, and those things have encouraged our faith and built us up. There are times where, if we're not careful, we begin to put disproportionate amounts of affection and confidence in their leadership, in their words, in their ideas beyond those of the Scriptures themselves.
This reminder in Jeremiah is a call to action. It's really for us to take assessment of the condition of our heart and where our affections lie. Do we give our affections to humans more than we give our affection to the God of all the humans? We realize that no human being is designed or set up to be able to be worshiped.
Elevated Voices in Our Culture
That sounds like a pretty demonstrative statement. "I'm not worshiping any person," you might be saying. What's interesting about our current culture and society is that we have elevated the voices of people and created mass communication mechanisms that allow for a lot of influence to lead to a lot of people finding a disproportionate amount of leadership and affection in places that are designed for God alone.
What we need to do is be aware of the places where we place these affections. We need to put our confidence in God because although men have let us down, God will never leave us unattended. We can put faith in Him because He is the same yesterday, today and forever.
The Promise of Trusting God
The verses before this say that trusting in man is like a bush in a wilderness. It is going to wither. Trusting and putting your confidence in God today will be one that will lead to flourishing and fruitfulness.
