Planted By The Water
Planted by the Water
…like a tree planted by the rivers of water… — Psalm 1:3
Several years ago, I took my family camping along the Methow River in Winthrop, Washington. One morning I notice the trees along the river bank. They were close together and about 50′ to 60′ feet tall. Yet the farther away from the river bank you went, the trees were more sparse and shorter. Twenty feet away from the bank the tallest tree was only about 25 feet high.
I thought of Psalms 1:3, “And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.” The river is the source of the tree’s nourishment. In the Scripture, God likens His Word to water (Eph. 5:26; John 15:3). The closer we are to the river, the more prosperous we will be (Joshua 1:8). The farther we get from the river, the less spiritual success and growth we will experience.
Let’s stay close to God and His Word so we can be like trees, growing tall and fruitful for His glory!
One Reply to “Planted By The Water”
Preacher,
This lesson is profound and for those of us who relate to lessons from nature here is one more of the same ilk.
I used to do a lot of hiking in the mountains. I was younger and the mountains were shorter than they now seem to be. After several years of climbing around the small mountains around where I grew up it occured to me that the farther away from the mountain valley I got the sparser the vegetation was. In the valleys the plant growth was lush but up high it thinned out as I approached the summit.
This is like my life as a Christian. When I am going through one of those wonderful mountain top experiences I don’t grow very much. I haven’t really figured out why this is, maybe I am just having too much enjoyment in these moments to really reflect on where I am spiritually. Perhaps pride at having arrived at this particular mountain top interferes. It is when I am down on valley floor struggling through the brush and the brambles that I really grow. When the thorns are ripping at my flesh and the going is tough I grow a lot. The rivers are in the valley bottoms and I can think of nothing that promotes growth more than the word of God and test of our faith that HE blesses us with. Dewey