At?...In?...Out the door.

Thus says the Lord:
 

“Cursed is the man who trusts in man
    and makes flesh his strength,
    whose heart turns away from the Lord. 

He is like a shrub in the desert,
    and shall not see any good come.
He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness,
    in an uninhabited salt land.

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,

    whose trust is the Lord. 

He is like a tree planted by water,
    that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
    for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
    for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

The heart is deceitful above all things,

    and desperately sick;
    who can understand it? 

“I the Lord search the heart
    and test the mind,
to give every man according to his ways,
    according to the fruit of his deeds.”

~Jeremiah 17:5-10 (ESV)

I pulled this passage out of my reading schedule, going through the prophets, and there's a few great things to be pointed out!

1) The flesh--our humanness--has been flawed since the beginning of time, essentially. We can never trust ourselves for things like touching other peoples' lives without prayerful support, being "good people" without having the right intentions and motivations, or fighting battles of temptation and spiritual attitude by trying to ignore them. When we live in this world without acknowledging our God, we are living in an uninhabited, barren desert land of salt, heat and depression. No good can come of it.
 

2) We are to trust in God with everything. If we can attain an attitude of righteous godliness, the even those we interact with will have a secure trust in God through us, knowing that everything we do and say is true and meaningful.

3) When we become wholly devoted to our faith and truly know the confidence given by the only one who can be truly firm and trustworthy, then we will be like trees that are not afraid of the heat or affected by the drought. When hard times come in life, we will always be able to retain the joy and peace of knowing and trusting in our savior.

4) Going back to point #1, never trust yourself and never trust what you think your heart tells you, because it is deceitful and will ever whisper the desires of this world. On another note however, when we fully commit ourselves and submit our beings to the Lord, we can know that He will guide our hearts' desires. When we are in a true connection to the King of our life, then we will not continue to long for the things that used to bring us satisfaction. He will constantly be changing us from the inside out.

5) Finally, we are held accountable to what we do in this life. God knows our everything, and He will reward us for the good we commit to whenever it is within His good and perfect plan for us. There will come a time when God will test our minds and nudge us to take the next step on our journey toward ultimate devotion and obedience to Him. Whenever those times arrive, knocking at our doors, the best thing we can ever do is to open up the door and, instead of simply meeting Him there or letting Him in, take His hand as He guides us outside into the light of the beautiful world He created!