Be A Tree With Deep Roots In The Ground Of Truth

Word-Of-The-Day: ‘That person <who is righteous> 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 1:3); ‘The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.’ (Proverbs 21:5)

Times may come and times may go; Ecclesiastes tells us of our seasons (infant, adolescence, adulthood, seasoned citizen, eternity), the seasons of the Earth (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter – or here in southwest Florida, Hot Summer, Warm Summer, and a week or two of Cool), the seasons of crops (seeding, caretaking, harvesting).  In Psalm 1:3, though, the message is that no matter the season we are in, of our lives, of our crops, or of our environment, we need to be like a tree. 

Not just any tree, but a firmly rooted tree next to a continual water source and keeps it’s leaves green all year long, even after it bears fruit.  The seasons can change around us, and time can fly or stand still, but we like this tree need to be steady. 

If we are to be this tree, the water source needs to be Living Water from our Lord.  Our fruit needs to be what our Spiritual Gifts provided and the witnessing we do to toward others with the Gospel per the Great Commission.  Our leaves need to stay green, by staying in the Word and in continuous prayer with Jesus.  They cannot wither due to storms or threat of fire or pestilence. 

We need to be diligent and continuous in our worship. It takes patience and perseverance, and we must always strive not to, as with the tree, try to peak our growth before we have our roots deep in the ground, and without the Living Water of Christ to feed off of.

A tree growing faster than its roots can hold will become top heavy and in a strong wind or rain, will topple. It’s similar to ‘the hare versus the turtle’, or racing in NASCAR; the car leading for most of the laps, like the hare, often falls behind at the end. The leader wears his tires out or burns all his fuel and ends up needing to make a pit stop near the end of the race. A driver who is ‘the turtle’, being diligent in keeping his tires just fresh enough to be in contention, will gain the lead in the final laps and do just enough to win the race.

We as Christians can see this as an example on how we are to run our race, as Paul alluded to in many of his Epistles.  The first thing is to run the race to win (1 Corinthians 9:24-27), or to meet the objective set for you to accomplish (in our case, using our gifts to perform the Great Commission).  We must have patience and endurance (Hebrews 12:1) and not allow ourselves to become distracted or hindered by obstacles (Galatians 5:7). 

We must recognize and anticipate some obstacles we may run into; those who try to downplay or denounced your Faith, that which may take you away from your Christian duties; we have to see the path over, under, or around those obstacles to move forward.  The tree may encounter a rock when its roots are growing; it cannot move the rock out of the way so it must grow its roots around it. A driver may need to slow down to avoid an accident or to save fuel in order to finish the race.

We sometimes try to do more than we can do, and burn out and quit.  We have an obligation to do Great Commission work, but we cannot overburden ourselves to attempt to achieve things that we are not equipped to do, or try to do everything at once. Paul states he ‘ran the good race’ (2 Timothy 4:7) which was that he set up a plan with Jesus and followed it.  Paul had the obstacles (persecution, shipwrecks, jail) but stuck to his plan due to his Spiritual perseverance.  Others lose sight of their plans due to sin, or allowing others to dictate their steps.

If we are to win the race, we need to have the winning plan, and that only comes through Jesus. Stick to the plan the Lord provides you; pray and read the Scriptures and know God’s plan is the winning plan. Hold steadfast and plant deep roots on solid ground. Don’t let inconveniences, delays, or the quickness of time get you down; stay ‘green’ in your Righteousness, by staying in the Word and in Prayer for Water, and be fruitful with your Gifts and the Gospel!