Listen

The Lord proclaims:

Cursed are those who trust in mere humans, who depend on human strength and turn their hearts from the Lord.

They will be like a desert shrub that doesn’t know when relief comes.

They will live in the parched places of the wilderness, in a barren land where no one survives.

Jeremiah 17:5-6

Think

Jeremiah’s whole life was spent preaching to God’s people in Judah. They were disobeying God and failing to uphold their end of the covenant with God, and so Jeremiah warned of their impending doom if they did not repent and reorient themselves on God’s path — all of Judah and its evil rulers would dry up, suffer, and perish like a dry shrub in the desert wilderness!

I used to live in the Mojave Desert in Nevada. My family and I would go hiking in the desert and marvel at all the desert shrubs — scraggly, dried out-looking bushes with teeny tiny leaves. It only rained for about five minutes every couple of months and the bushes would take in and store every minuscule droplet in order to survive the harsh conditions.

Jeremiah reminds us that we humans aren’t meant to hold out for minuscule bits of relief like desert shrubs. We are meant to thrive, not just survive. Thriving, for the people of God, means trusting God, being deeply rooted on God’s path, receiving and giving mercy, and serving our neighbors.

Erin Spengeman Hutchison

Pray

God, I want to trust you and travel with you on your path today.

Amen.

Go

As you go today, choose the loving path of God, remembering that God will guide you.