- As a brief review, we have been examining the framework given to us in Jeremiah 17:5-13 for analyzing problems biblically.
- Ever problem has a root issue residing in the person’s posture towards God.
- We also discovered that the root issue will produce good fruit or bad fruit in that person’s life that is easily visible.
- That fruit is connected to the root by the “tree”. The tree is the way we respond to circumstances, relationship, and situations in our life.
- As we conclude this look at the biblical framework for analyzing problems we will discuss The Environment, The Cross, and The Harvest.
- Beginning with the Environment or Heat as it is depicted in the diagram, the environment consists of our circumstances, situations, and relationships.
- These environmental factors give us the occasion to respond., but they do not determine our response.
- Notice in verses 5-6 as well as verses 7-8 the same situation of heat and parched land comes to the man who trusts in flesh and the man who trusts in the Lord.
- The man who trusts in flesh withers while the man who trusts in the Lord flourishes by sending is deep roots to the Living Water available only in Christ.
- For shepherds, we want to know about a person’s environment, which is why we try to gather as much information as possible.
- We must never give the impression, however; that a person’s environment is so unique that they cannot respond by trusting in the Lord and flourishing in spite of the environment.
- We then move to consider the Cross in this diagram, and the Lord’s place in this diagram.
- The cross, which is the living water referred to in verse 8 and especially in verses 13, allow us to stop harvesting bad fruit and start harvesting good fruit in our lives.
- But notice when we read in verse 8 that the man who trusts in the Lord is like a tree who “sends out its roots by the stream.”
- This man turns towards the living water, not away from it. So, as shepherds we want people to turn towards the Lord and His word.
- We must encourage people to repent and trust the life giving gospel of the cross of Jesus Christ.
- They should put to death their former ways of living and thinking.
- They should put on the ways of Christ and His Word.
- The harvest then, is what we reap in our lives, or the consequences of our actions.
- It is more than just the incidental bad fruit, but the harvest of a life either lived for Christ or for self.
- Verse 11-13 describes the harvest of a life lived for self.
- The harvest is fleeting according to verse 11 and leaves that person as a fool.
- The one who forsakes the Lord will be shamed according to verse 13.
- Further the one who turns away from the Lord will be written in the earth in verse 13.
- The converse of those verses is the harvest of a life lived for Christ.
- The harvest is eternal and leaves the person wiser than before.
- The person will not be shamed but elevated out of their situation.
- Further our names will be written in the book of life and we will enjoy living water.
- Beginning with the Environment or Heat as it is depicted in the diagram, the environment consists of our circumstances, situations, and relationships.
- As shepherds our goal is to understand problems well enough to help those who come to us to look to the gospel of Christ and have an eternal harvest of righteousness.
Let the Shepherd Lead 
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