“But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit.”  (Jeremiah 17:7-8, NLT).

The prophet Jeremiah paints a beautiful word picture to describe people who lead lives of faithfulness to God!

Faithful people are like trees that grow beside a river and their roots extend to the deep parts of the river where there is a continuous source of water to nourish them. These trees are not disturbed by heatwaves or drought conditions because they are deeply rooted in the river.

Jeremiah contrasts a life of faithfulness to God with a life that trusts only in human strength and ability (vs. 5-6). He says a way of life that trusts only in human ability is like a shrub that lives in the desert. It is stunted and has no hope for survival for any length of time.

Taking the metaphor to its full meaning, God is the river of life and the trees planted by the river are God’s faithful people who are rooted in God’s eternal life. But the stunted bushes of the desert are faithless people, people who have not been replenished by God’s living water and so they have no hope for eternal life.

God’s faithful people can withstand the vicissitudes of life because they have put down deep roots in God–in His Word and His promises–and it becomes a source of life for them and for others as they bear fruit by proclaiming His salvation.

If you desire to be spiritually deep, then become deeply rooted in God through His Word, the Bible.

“Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.” (John 7:38, NLT).