The Shrub

I read in Jeremiah today--Jeremiah 17
It's an interesting passage.
Already I've read about a nation that rebelled, a nation that would not listen to the voice of God, a nation that would not come despite His beaconing, a nation that would not cease their sin. They were a nation that triggered a prophet's tears and a mighty God's chastening.
Then chapter 17 paints some interesting imagery

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 dessert,
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 draught,
for it does not cease to bear fruit.

This passage, quite sadly, is my name sake. I discovered it last year when a preacher in chapel spoke on the shrub. And my friends wouldn't let me live it down. I'm not saying I don't like my name, but when I looked up Heather in a name book and saw that it meant "shrub," I did ask my mother why. The blessing in this passage goes to the tree. Why couldn't she name me Spruce or Oak? Okay, maybe not....

Actually, I like this passage. It reminds me of my human tendency to be like the shrub, the urge to put trust in man when it ought to be in God. It serves as my reminder to trust God, to be a shrub that is like a tree planted by the rivers of water, rooted in His Word, drinking in the rich truths of Scripture, being built up, and bearing fruit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.