“For he shall be like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see when good comes” (Jeremiah 17:6).
Such is Jeremiah’s description of the man who “trusts in man” and “makes flesh his strength.” He doesn’t see the good. So, he trusts in the bad. The problem here is one of distinction; he can’t tell the difference between good and bad, truth and error, light and darkness. Isaiah brings ups the same thing in his fiery denouncement of unbelieving Israel: “woe to those who call evil good and good evil” (Isaiah 5:20). Without ability to make distinctions between God and the devil, we’re blind to sin, left to our devices, swimming in debt before God that only grows.
Jesus faced opposition in the Jews that reached a boiling point in His powerful invective against them: “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes…And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation” (Luke 19:42,44). Enemies savored His death, seeing the cross as a victory over the One calling out the hypocrisy in Isarel’s religious leaders and offering grace rather than more burdens to hard to bear.
Our lives confront enemies of the Church who are the shrubs in the desert blind to the good. Evil shines in exaltation while the goodness of God is shunned and abhorred. It’s nothing new and has only worsened in recent years. The gulf always existing between Christians and pagans has both widened and clarified on a cultural level, and this isn’t all bad. Firm party lines show one’s allegiance. The enemy becomes clear and lukewarm attitudes are now hot or cold in a society brazen enough to champion perversity and scorn those who don’t. Eyes that see the good see evil. We repent of our own sins and fix our eyes on the goodness of God in Jesus Who calls us out of darkness, away from the devil and demons deceiving and misleading until Jesus’ imminent return.
Now’s the time for vigilance, prayer, repentance, and faith. God forbid we forget His Word and become that shrub in the desert. Our prayer is to be awake, alive, faithful, and ready—ready at our visitation when the Good Himself comes to take His Church, restore all things, and give what He promises to His saints He raises from the dead.
-By Rev. Ryan J. Ogrodowicz, “You Have a Place at Grace,” February 16th, 2025
Rev. Ryan J. Ogrodowicz
Grace Lutheran Church - Brenham, Texas
The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod
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