Planted By Streams Of Water
A tree planted by streams of water is a good thing. It’s roots are deep and branches are strong so when the storms come, it won’t be shaken. It’s steady source of nourishment causes it to produce beautiful fruit. Fed by plenty of water, it’s able to stay lush and green even in the scorching sun. It provides shade for the ground below and shelter for the birds of the air. Who doesn’t want to be like a tree planted by streams of water?
God says you will be like that tree as you avoid evil and delight in his Word. It’s not a hard formula to process, but it’s very difficult to practice. With sinful hearts like ours, we too often find ourselves avoiding God’s Word and delighting in evil. That’s why we feel weak, dry, and withered in life. Avoiding God’s Word and delighting in evil only leads to a life starving for strength and running on empty. It’s a life scorched by the heat and blown away like chaff.
I don’t know how starving your roots are or how dry your leaves, but I do know there is plenty of room by the stream for a tree like you. The stream of God’s forgiveness will never run dry. Drink deeply of it and watch your guilty, dry heart begin to beat again. The soil of God’s unconditional love is rich. Sink your roots down and it will produce the fruit you were built to produce. Grow by the stream and watch how God uses you to bless and prosper the world around you.
Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers. - Psalm 1:1-3
