DAILY BREAD READING (Published Daily by Our Daily Bread Ministries)
MAY 17, 2026
READ: Jeremiah 17 (Focus vs. 5-8)
MEMORY VERSE
“Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord.” Jeremiah 17:7
BACKGROUND
As Douglas Kent, a landscape architect, toured a charred Los Angeles neighborhood after the city’s raging 2025 wildfires, he encountered a shocking surprise—trees, alive and green, right next to melted cars and burned buildings.
Many of them bore lush palms and leaves, abundant fruit, and strong trunks and branches. How?
After two consecutive rainy winters, the trees’ roots had reached deep into the soil to draw moisture, carrying it to branches and leaves. In a fire, they proved resistant. “What I saw,” said Kent, “was that if you were deep-rooted, you survived.” Our faith during the fiery trials of life can be like that.
As we set our spiritual roots deep in Christ and His love, we become “like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit” (Jeremiah 17:8).
Jeremiah, who never minced words, warned that those who trust in “mere flesh” are “cursed” (v. 5). “That person will be like a bush in the wastelands; they will not see prosperity when it comes.” Instead, “they will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives” (vv. 5-6).
How much better to trust in God! Well-watered by His sustaining love, we thrive even in raging times, bearing spiritual fruit in Him.
Patricia Raybon
INSIGHT
Jeremiah warned the unrepentant, idolatrous people of Judah that God would exile them to Babylon for their unfaithfulness (Jeremiah 25:8-11).
God persistently and patiently urged them to repent before it was too late (35:15) and promised restoration and blessing once discipline was complete (31:23-28). In chapter 17, Jeremiah contrasts the curses on the ungodly with the blessings on the godly (vv. 5-8).
In language reminiscent of Psalm 1:1-3, the prophet proclaims: “Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord. . . . They will be like a tree planted by the water” (Jeremiah 17:7-8). In contrast, cursed are those who “turn their hearts away from the Lord . . . with no hope for the future” (vv. 5-6 nlt).
The curse and blessing motifs are also in line with the covenantal consequences laid out in Deuteronomy 28. In times of adversity, Jeremiah reminds us that our security, stability, faithfulness, and fruitfulness are rooted in our trust in God, not in men.
K.T. Sim
APPLICATION
How deep are your roots in Christ? How can you trust Him during fiery trials?
PR’s (Pastor Richard) RE-EMPHASIS (From Today’s Post)
“As we set our spiritual roots deep in Christ and His love, we become “like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit””
PR’s TAKE
“Have your roots planted deep in Christ. Grow in Him. Get your strength from Him. Let Him make you strong in the faith as you have been taught. Your life should be full of thanks to Him.” Colossians 2:7
PRAYER
“Dear God, as the world seems to burn around me, please remind me to trust in You.”
TODAY’S HYMN/WORSHIP/PRAISE/GOSPEL SONG
“ROOTED” Kerrie Roberts
You plant me in the meadows
Where my desert heart can bloom
You break the fields of fallow ground
And my spirit begins to grow in You
And I will ever be rooted in You, God
Ever be rooted in You, Lord
Ever be rooted in You
Oh I will ever be rooted in You, God
Ever be rooted in You, Lord
Ever be rooted in You
You lift these broken branches
Graft me into the vine
Oh God of second chances
I know You’re leading me into harvest time
Yeah, You’re leading me into harvest time
And I will ever be rooted in You, God
Ever be rooted in You, Lord
Ever be rooted in You
Oh I will ever be rooted in You, God
Ever be rooted in You, Lord
Ever be rooted in You
No, I won’t be moved
When the world tries to bend me
I’m firmly grounded in truth that has saved me
Jesus, You save me
And I will ever be rooted in You, God
Ever be rooted in You, Lord
Ever be rooted in You
Oh I will ever be rooted in You, God
Ever be rooted in You, Lord…
