Jeremiah 17:1

 Jeremiah 17:1 says, The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond: it is graven upon the table of their heart, and upon the horns of your altars;  God said that the sins of Judah were written on the tablet of their hearts.  The Ten Commandments were written on a stone tablet, but they were also to be written in the hearts of the people of Israel then and in our hearts now.  The people of Judah could not claim their innocence because their sin was too visible.  Verse two adds, Whilst their children remember their altars and their groves by the green trees upon the high hills.  Their idols had become as important to them as their children were.  Some people today think more of their idols, such as money, fame, power and pleasure than they do of their children.  We as followers of Christ should always put our children and their welfare, both physical and spiritual, ahead of the things of this world.  Verse three declares, O my mountain in the field, I will give thy substance and all thy treasures to the spoil, and thy high places for sin, throughout all thy borders.  God was in sorrow because His mountain and plains would be given to others.  What we need to realize is that as Christians all that we have belongs to God and should be used in accordance with His will.  Verse four adds, And thou, even thyself, shalt discontinue from thine heritage that I gave thee; and I will cause thee to serve thine enemies in the land which thou knowest not: for ye have kindled a fire in mine anger, which shall burn for ever.  God said that not only was the land going to be given to another, but so were the people of Judah.  They were to be taken to a strange land that they did not know.  If we are God's people in name only, as were the people of Judah, then one day we are going to find ourselves in a strange land called hell.  Matthew Henry says that sin works a discontinuance of our comforts and deprives us of the enjoyment of that which God has given us.  I don't believe that we will ever lose our salvation if we have truly accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, but we will lose the joy of our salvation if we give in to the power of sin once more.  Verse five declares, Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.  God said that those who trusted in man instead of God would be cursed.  There is no man who is going to make the world right except for Jesus Christ Himself.  If we are putting our faith in any man today, then we are not living according to God's word.  Verse six adds, For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.  God said that those who put their faith in man will never find satisfaction for their needs. We may have everything our heart desires, but without faith in God we are still in a spiritual desert.  Verse seven states, Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.  If we want to be blessed, then we must put our trust in God alone.  It is that simple.  This does not say that those who put their faith in God will be rich and famous, but that they will be blessed.  Verse eight adds, For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.  The people who put their faith in God will always be at peace in life, no matter what happens.  If we are rooted in faith in God, nothing can ever destroy our spiritual relationship with God.