The Fragrance of Christ (2 Cor. 2:12-3:6)

[Sung Psalm: 1]

Jeremiah talks about two trees: The cursed shrub of the desert – the man who trusts in man – whose heart turns away from the LORD. And the blessed tree planted by the water – the man who trusts in the LORD – whose trust is the LORD.

What sort of tree are you? How do you respond when heat comes? How do you respond when trials and difficulties arise? How do you respond when others sin against you?

It can be really easy to blame other people for our sins. But blaming other people is simply what happens when we put our trust in them! When we put our trust in man – when we put our trust in someone other than the Lord Jesus, then when they fail us – we react with bitterness – we react like a desert shrub dwelling in the parched places.

We get all prickly.

The problem is that our hearts are deceitful. As Jeremiah says: “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick; who can understand it?”

As we’ll see in 2 Corinthians, Paul is dealing with people who are putting their trust in man.