OSHIMIRI ATATA: THE RIVER THAT NEVER RUNS DRY

Jeremiah 17:8 For he will be like a tree planted by water, and to the stream it sends its roots, and it will not fear when heat comes, and its leaves will be luxuriant, and in the year of drought it will not be anxious, and it will not cease from the bearing of fruit.

A tree planted by water is automatically seen as being in a place of advantage because surely, there is a body of water at hand. However, there is an interesting part to this situation which the prophet Jeremiah highlights and that is ‘the tree sends out it roots towards the stream’.

In other word, the availability of water did not present a forgone conclusion for the definite thriving of this tree. Instead, the water only represented ‘a potential for thriving’. There had to be an intentional attempt by the tree to reach the body of water with its roots to ensure that supply was secured. It was not a default outcome.

Job touched on importance of water when he stated that “scent of water” was an adequate hope for a tree cut down to its stump to begin budding again (Job 14:7-9). We are therefore not surprised that a tree whose roots have reached into a flowing river ceases to panic when heat comes and is not anxious in the year of drought.

Beloved, God is described in Igbo as “oshimiri atata”, meaning the “river that never runs dry.” However, our proximity to this river is not what solely guarantees our flourishing, what secures our eternal supply is our decision to send our roots down towards that river.

#sly