The use of juxtaposition in scripture is actually quite common. Here is another example in Jeremiah 17. I've always found this imagery to be very striking as well. I've drawn it as an underground river, to represent the biblical concept of pressing in, seeking, digging deep, etc. The shrub represents a person who neglects to seek the Lord, fear the Lord, and cultivate a close relationship with the Him. The tree represents the person who has chosen to seek the Lord, fear the Lord, and cultivate a close relationship with Him. I am thankful that I chose to do these things since my youth. I am thankful that my roots pressed deep through bedrock to the streams that never run dry. The foundation that has kept me going through flame and loss is not chance, luck, or spontaneous willpower. No. The strength of my faith comes from the last two decades of pressing my roots deep. Seeking the Lord, delighting in Him, choosing humility and diligence and all the little decisions to cultivate the type of character I wanted to become. It's an ongoing process. Each of us are responsible to cultivate our space of co-laboring with the Lord, both in good times and in bad times. I feel like I could point to a 3-year window in which the bulk of my foundation was established, and yet it remains an ongoing process. We are all called to "work out our salvation with fear and trembling", not because we're 'scared', but because we should view with awe the magnificent responsibility entrusted to us.
That's all for today. Blessings.
♥ This is a beautiful reminder for all of us. And coming from you, it means that much more because we have seen you and your long root and how nourished your soul has been in the deepest of droughts. God continue to bless you with these gems of blessings and through you, bless us as well.
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