Jeremiah 17:5-10, I Corinthians 15:12-20 and Luke 6:17-26

Lots of contrasts in these three scriptures! Today we might speak of “winners and losers.” There are those who “get it” and those “who don’t.”

For instance, Jeremiah says there are those who trust in God and those who “trust in mortals.” One is like a tree planted close to water and the other like a shrub in the dry desert! Paul says you either believe in the resurrection of the dead and Christ or you don’t. If you don’t…..you are still in your sins!

In Luke 6 Jesus speaks of the poor and the hungry versus the rich and the full. You might guess that Jesus doesn’t have much good to say about the rich and those who are already full!

Contrast. Winners and losers. I would hold forth for a third possibility: that people genuinely can be in these “negative” categories but can also be seeking for change! The rich might well be open to change toward NOT trusting in riches. Those who put their trust in “mortals” might be open to CHANGING their trust toward God.

We can hope. We can try to give people the “benefit of the doubt.” We look on the outside but God looks on the heart. And we know that “love is patient…..long suffering.”

People can and do change. They may well be “moved by the Spirit” to seek the things of God. And I include myself and perhaps you in this seeking to change an identity. The old Christian term for this is “sanctification” or more the modern wording “transformation.”

Yes, we can grow from being a “shrub in the desert” to a “tree planted close to needed waters.”

Let’s join the seekers group today!

Prayers and blessings!

Pastor Barry †