Psalm 1, Jeremiah 17, Isaiah 55:1, John 7:38-39, Psalm 63

Howard Drummond considers why we need to be planted by the river of living waters

From verse 5 onwards of Jeremiah 17 it says, 'Cursed is the one who trusts in man who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord. That person will be like a bush in the wastelands; they will not see prosperity when it comes. They will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives. But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.'

If we are not planted by the water:

• The lack of water can cause stunted growth. We dry up and become like the chaff that the wind blows away.


• We can shrivel and dry up and this can cause our fruit to drop off. We no longer stand strong, but become weak and brittle.


• Some plants die if over watered. This is like spending too much time with a particular thing or person and becoming separated from the righteous. We can then become sinners, trusting human beings rather than trusting in the Lord.


• We become naked and bare and are exposed to all conditions.

Jeremiah 17:10 says, 'I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve.'

Sin is an issue of the heart and from our birth we are inclined to sin, but we can choose for our hearts to be changed from sin towards grace.

Isaiah 55:1 says, 'Come all who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come buy and eat'.

God is saying that we must need Him like we need water to drink to keep us alive. This water is 'living water' that's available. It is the Holy Spirit according to the words found in John 7:38-39:

'Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them." By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.'

The Spirit guides and empowers us in a way that allows us to experience His overflowing life.

God is offering us total fulfilment for free. All we have to do is come to Him. Even those who have never made a commitment to Christ can today receive Him. The person who is facing a hard situation or circumstance can come to Him right now; someone who is experiencing a season that is dry; those of us who feel unworthy to walk towards Him, He says 'come'.

Why is a plant planted by the river and not in a plant pot?

A plant can only grow as far as what it's contained in. If you put a plant in a small pot it will only grow in the confines of the space that pot provides. Its roots will not spread. If you then think about us as people being planted, we would be limited, not having the space to grow and lay down our true roots or foundation. We become people who are superficial and not people who are firmly grounded.

Why else is a plant planted by the river?

• There is access to fresh flowing water. There is a constant source of water.


• There is constant access to space and always room for changing position in order to grow, giving strong branches as they grow towards the light.


• There's means to change over the course of the seasons to produce fruit and sustain life.

Knowing that we are to be firmly rooted and always drinking from the source of water, let's continue or even begin to become people who are 'blessed'. Let us continually become those people who begin to flourish and bare fruit; fruit that not only lasts, but is used to bare even more fruit.