Jeremiah 17:7 (NET) “My blessing is on those people who trust in me, who put their confidence in me.”
Whenever we celebrate a New Year, there is always an anticipation of what that year will hold for us. Will we get that new job, will we start a new habit that will benefit our life, are we going to receive a financial breakthrough that will bless our family, are we going to be able to shed the pounds that were added from the past three holidays that seem to promote gluttony for some of us!!, etc. There is almost a sense of renewed hope in the idea that we are going to live our lives “right” this year and do things that will be a blessing to ourselves and our families. That is a great feeling, and we should have that attitude (not only at the turn of the year, but at all times!), but where we get hung up is at the point of instituting the changes necessary to our current patterns of living that have created this need for change in our lives.
Taking Responsibility for Our Actions
In Jeremiah 17:10 God says,
“I, the Lord, probe into people’s minds. I examine people’s hearts. I deal with each person according to how he has behaved. I give them what they deserve based on what they have done.”
The thing that is so important for many of us to realize is that our deeds will create good or bad results in our lives. I know there is some exceptions to this, where someone does something to us that we cannot control, and my heart goes out to those who find themselves in that sort of situation (maybe I can do another post at some point about that topic), but for the sake of this post though, let’s continue with the idea of taking responsibility for our actions.
There is a biblical theme of “sowing” and “reaping” that is present in all of our lives. In Galatians 6:7-8 Paul says,
“Do not be deceived. God will not be made a fool. For a person will reap what he sows, because the person who sows to his own flesh will reap corruption from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit.”
It is super important to understand this principle in regard to seeking blessings for our lives in 2021. The things that we sow (think of a farmer who is planting seeds, that is what sowing means) is what we will reap (again, think of the farmer who after waiting all year harvests the crop that he planted- that is reaping). If we sow kindness, we will most likely reap kindness, if we sow blessings we will most likely reap blessings, if we sow anger then we will most likely reap anger, etc.
What is it that you want to “reap” in 2021?
Curse?
Do you want to reap the benefits of having a Government that fits your political agenda (oh man, I just went there!), or a person that will solve all of your problems, or all the money on the world, or …….? These thing might be nice, but they are not to be the focus of our “sowing”, in other words we should not be investing all of our energy and efforts in order to gain these things! This is a quick way to introduce a curse over your life, and I don’t want that for you – neither does God! Here is what God says in Jeremiah 17:5,
“The Lord says, “I will put a curse on people who trust in mere human beings, who depend on mere flesh and blood for their strength, and whose hearts have turned away from the Lord.”
Remember what Jesus said in Luke 12:34,
“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Our hearts follow what we consider to be our treasure. If we consider money, relationships, government, etc. to be the treasure that will change our lives, then we have turned our hearts away from the Lord and will reap a curse upon our lives.
Blessing?
When we decide to make God the treasure of our lives, then we will inherit the blessing we seek! Our main verse from today in Jeremiah 17:7 says,
“My blessing is on those people who trust in Me, who put their confidence in Me.”
Trusting in God is the sure-fire way to reap blessings. I am reminded of Matthew 6:33 where Jesus tells His followers,
“But above all pursue his kingdom and righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
In other words, don’t worry about and seek after the things that everyone else gets caught up chasing, instead seek God and His righteousness and all of the things that you need will be supplied to you by Him!!
We need to have the resolve of Joshua who told the people he was leading in Joshua 24:15 that he and his family will worship (serve) the Lord! This was after he gave them a choice to serve the gods of the other people, or the God of Israel – the LORD! We all have to make that decision on a daily basis too, and the choice we make will determine to what extent we will reap the blessings that comes from a decision to worship and follow the Lord.
Each of us has a Choice to make
Here is what Moses said to the children of Israel when he explained this concept to them.
“Take note—I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse:the blessing if you take to heart the commandments of the Lord your God that I am giving you today, and the curse if you pay no attention to his commandments and turn from the way I am setting before you today to pursue other gods you have not known.”
Deuteronomy 11:26-28
I will say the same to you today. In 2021 we all have a choice on who, or what, we will worship. Who are we going to give our hearts to, meaning who or what is going to be the treasure that we seek? I want all of us to be operating in the blessing and favor of God, but if we will not worship Him and make Him the treasure of our lives then unfortunately we will not inherit the blessing that come from Him, and instead we will inherit the curse of a life without the presence and power of God. In Jeremiah 17:6 in regard to the curse upon someone who does not trust in God, it says they will not experience good things even when they happen. I want 2021 to be full of goodness, so I do not want to be a part of anything that will hinder that from taking place in my life – how about you?
Check out this picture of someone who does place their trust in the Lord and receives His blessing upon their life:
“They will be like a tree planted near a stream whose roots spread out toward the water. It has nothing to fear when the heat comes. Its leaves are always green. It has no need to be concerned in a year of drought. It does not stop bearing fruit.”
Jeremiah 17:8 (NET)
May our Lord richly bless you and your family this year as you make the decision to fully worship and trust in Him alone as your treasure! I will leave you with this final blessing from Numbers 6:24-26,
“The Lord bless you and protect you;
The Lord make His face to shine upon you,
and be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you
and give you peace.” ’
Amen