Blessed
Jeremiah has a way with words. And often his directness leads to him landing in hot water. To understand better what Jeremiah is trying to say, let me paraphrase just a little.
The passage might read then like this: Cursed is the man who trusts his friends. Who seeks to surround himself with people of influence and power. Who seeks no help from the Lord. This man has no depth, no soul. He takes nothing internally but is superficial in all he does. Everything is for his own gain. Any wonder why Jeremiah gets into trouble?
Who, then, is the blessed man? According to Jeremiah, one who puts his trust in the Lord. The man who keeps God foremost in his life. The man who lives on the precepts of the Lord.
At the end of the reading is an interesting thought. “(The Lord) . . . rewards everyone according to his ways, according to the merit of his deeds.”
Do you see how Lazarus was rewarded? How the rich man was rewarded? The rich man was blessed with many material things in his life. Lazarus is blessed in life after death. I find it interesting that the rich man could have been a blessing for Lazarus when they both were alive. But he did not even notice Lazarus.
Now they are in a place where the rich man considers a drop of water a blessing. But there are no blessings where the rich man is now. Perhaps, just as Jeremiah indicates, we need to consider, are we a curse or a blessing? And if we are blessed, are we a blessing to others, or a curse? How will you bless others today?
May the Lord bless you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen