Yesterday we looked at Jeremiah 17, verses 5-10, and did a focus and amplify study that we didn’t quite complete. Let’s finish it off today. The focus is: Don’t presume that you’re ok with God. It’s potentially fatal to make that presumption. Here are some steps to take to make sure you are right with God.
First, compare the one who trusts in himself with the one who trusts in God in verses 5-8. There’s a clear difference between the two.
Second, take inventory or examine where you stand in your relationship to God. Remember verse 9 which points out the heart is deceitful in all things and desperately wicked. We might be deceived—so double check.
Third, the Lord searches the heart and examines the mind. You find this in verse 10: “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind.” Go to the Lord, read the Word of God, pray and ask Him to show you what He sees in your life. Ask Him to give you peace if your heart is right with Him. Ask Him to trouble and disturb you if it is not right with Him. Acknowledge any sin He points out and trust Him to forgive you. That’s the basis for a healthy relationship with Him.
When you trust in Him you’ll be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that sends out its roots by the stream. It doesn’t fear when the heat comes. Its leaves are always green. It has no worries in the year of drought. It never fails to bear fruit. Yes, God blesses the life of the one who truly trusts in Him.
