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For 40 years Jeremiah served as God's spokesman to Judah; but when Jeremiah spoke, nobody listened. And he certainly didn't attain material success. He was both imprisoned and forcibly exiled. Still, in God's eyes, Jeremiah was a success. That was because he was obedient to his calling, courageously and faithfully proclaiming the word of God. While Jeremiah wrote this passage about trust and self-deception, it also contains a vision of what true success looks like.

Jeremiah 17:5-10

1. In what ways have you experienced the deceitfulness (v. 9) of your own heart?
2. Do you think secret motives (v. 11) are (a) motives you conceal from others, (b) motives you haven't acknowledged to yourself, or (c) both of these?
3. What two things, according to verse 5, make a person like a stunted shrub?
4. And what two things, according to verse 7, make a person like a well-watered tree?
5. Verse 8 is about drought resistance. Do you see your standards of success as setting you up for flourishing or for becoming parched?

Ask God to make you a success in His eyes, regardless of whether you are applauded by your neighbors and coworkers.

5 This is what the LORD says: "Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans and turn their hearts away from the LORD. 6 They are like stunted shrubs in the desert, with no hope for the future. They will live in the barren wilderness, on the salty flats where no one lives. 7 "But blessed are those who trust in the LORD and have made the LORD their hope and confidence. 8 They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they go right on producing delicious fruit. 9 "The human heart is most deceitful and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? 10 But I know! I, the LORD, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve."

Copyright © 2005 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity.

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Prayer for the Week

I realize, Lord, that my generation's take on success is terribly superficial. Shift my sights to the deeper goals found in Your Word.

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