It seems like no matter where I’ve lived, it’s been somewhere near a river–the Connecticut River, the Columbia River, the Tennessee River. I’ve always been amazed at the life that springs up around these rivers, from the wildlife to the cities and towns themselves. It seems like where water is, there is life.

Today’s verse in Jeremiah also talks about how life flourishes by water. Just like a tree is supplied by the streams where it plants its roots, so we will be nourished by putting our trust and hope in God. Roots driven deeply into the ground, soaked by the waters of the river, will never cease quenching the thirst of the tree, even when harsh conditions come its way, like heat or drought.

I want to be like that tree, planted so firmly in Christ that I will not be shaken when adversity and trials come my way. I want to be so near Christ that I will never be lacking for a source of hope and encouragement. I want to never stop bearing fruit for Him. I want to be nourished by that life-giving water Jesus offered to the woman at the well–the water that will never run dry.

Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes. But its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit.

— Jeremiah 17:7-8 (NKJV) —