That Kind of Tree

The central focus of the "Forward" Bible study is worshipping God by living boldly for Him. Psalm 1:1-2 tells us how to do that plainly and simply. Are you ready to look at what happens in your life when you live it out.

Psalm 1:3 says that the blessed man who follows verse one and two will be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither, and whatever he does shall prosper.

Well you've had a few goals in life, but I bet none involved turning into a tree. At first glance it sounds down right boring and plain. But at a deeper look reveals much, much, much more.

In the middle east, a tree is a prized possession. Water is scarce, the soil is rough, and a tree is treasured. When Jonah was wrestling with God over Ninevah, God sent a tree for him. A tree means "life exists here". That alone is pretty convicting. Does my life consistently say "Life exists here"? Trees indicate the presence of water, a place for rest, potential for food and shelter, and a known point from which to navigate. Travelling across the desert a tree in the distance means hope and relief.

The significance of the tree resounds throughout all of the Bible from beginning to end. In the beginning, the first thing God caused to grow was the tree. In His garden He placed the Tree of Life and promptly evicted man from the garden before he could partake of its fruit. What was once planted for us, was now off limits till Christ redeems nature itself. In fact this same tree is seen again in Revelation 2:7 when Christ tells us how to be able to eat of the fruit of the tree of life in the future. Is it any wonder then that Christ died upon a tree for us?

The blessed man is like a tree because in today's world a tree is a survivor. A tree overcomes. First it overcomes because it is planted by rivers of water. The blood of a tree is water. Without it dies. With it, it can withstand nearly anything. Why must a tree be planted by rivers of water? It needs continual feeding. You and I can't survive as spiritual people with the occasional rain shower or flash flood of water. We are designed to be plugged in to the Source of Life - the Creator. We can't dabble in Christianity. We can't be Easter or Christmas Christians. We have to be plugged in.

Christ is our source of that living water. In John 4 Jesus meets the Samaritan woman at the well and begins telling her about Himself. He tells her she needs living water by explaining to her that whoever drinks the well water will get thirsty again, but whoever consumes Christ will never have spiritual thirst again. The water that Christ gives will be in the believer a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.

When we are like the tree plugged into rivers of water, we have the indwelling Christ continually renewing us with His living water. As Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4:16 "Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day". If you slice a tree open you can see its rings and the thickness of each ring tells whether the year was famine or properity. What do your rings say about you and how plugged into the river of life you are? Is this time a time of plenty or drought?

A tree planted by rivers of water brings forth fruit in its season. John the Baptist warned that every tree that doesn't bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. We said earlier that a tree was precious because those things needed to make it grow were precious - water, good soil. Water can't be wasted on a tree bearing bad fruit. Did you catch that John the Baptist didn't warn about unfruitful trees? We all bear fruit. The Word makes it clear what the fruits of the Spirit are: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.

Fruit is born in season says the Psalm. The seasons of our lives will squeeze out the fruit of what's going on inside of us. Christ within yields Godly fruit. Without Christ the pressures of life squeeze out the worst of desparate humanity - fear, selfishness, greed, lust, hate. I spent a year in Korea. It's called a hardship tour because you can't bring family and the living conditions are poor. With the hardships of the tour and the absence of family and accountability, many Soldiers resort to alcohol, prostitution and other indulgences to pass the time and null the pain of being alone in a dangerous part of the world. We used to talk about Korea being a magnigying glass - whatever you were before you came to Korea, the experience made you more of that. If you were a strong person, Korea gave you the chance to prove it and endure. If you were weak, it could destroy you. Such is true about the spiritual realm. When trials come, the fruits are the magnifying glass of what's within you...more precisely who's within you.

The blessed man has leaves that don't wither. When you're plugged into the living waters of Christ, can the heat of Satan's blows wilt you? Absolutely not. When others see you going through trials and pains, Christ within allows you to glow and reflect Him, not wilt and dry up and appear as defeated. When seasons come that are tough. Your outward appearance reflects His inner strength.

And whatever you do shall prosper. Really? Yup. If God's within, His fruit comes out. Does it come out for nothing to fall on the ground and rot. Nope. Isaiah 55:11 says, "So shall my Word be that goes forth from my mouth. It shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please and prosper in the thing for which I sent it."

Where do people go wrong on this whole prospering thing? The tree exists to bear fruit, provide shade, be pleasing to its Creator. It can't wander from its purpose in anyway and still prosper. Yet there are doctrines that wrongly say that you can have anything, riches, wealth, power, fame, prestige, healing, and more and claim verses like this as their base. I don't get it. We exist for God's purpose and glory. We must yield to that and when we do, He works in and through us, and that is prosperity. When the Spirit's at work in and through us, guess who isn't? Satan. And me for that matter. And that's victorious living. I am to be a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is my reasonable act of worship. Anything else is settling for medicrity and that's just not OK.

My Dad loves the story of three trees that were growing up on a mountain. Each would tell the other about what they wanted to be when they grew up. The first tree wanted to be made into a king's palace. The second tree wanted to be mighty sailing ship. The third tree just wanted to grow taller and taller and point to God. The day came when the first tree was to be cut down. He groaned in anticipation of his dreams of success coming true. "Now I get to become a palace for the king" the tree exclaimed, only to weep in disappointment as his only life was poured out to be made into a feeding trough for animals. It wasn't until the newborn King was laid in him that he realized his life was no waste at all, but that he'd been made a home for the King of Kings. The second tree was soon cut down as well and similarly anticipated sailing the oceans, carrying warriors to conquer lands for the king. Only to be dashed into despair as he became a stinky fishing boat reaking of sour water and spoiled fish. It wasn't until the Savior spoke from Him and slept on him and conquered the ranging sea did he realize his passenger was the King. Finally, and my Dad always tears up at this point, the third tree wept as he saw the woodcutters approaching to cut him down. "NO!! I just want to stay here and point people to God. Can't you understand that?" To no avail he was cut down and turned into a cross where his sorrow became nearly unbearable as he thought he went from glorifying God one day to a future of executing criminals and bearing their bloody corpses. Then he felt heavy as he realized the sin of the whole world was placed upon the man nailed to him and that on his cross was the King of Kings who took away the sins of the world and that the cross will forever point the way to God.

I love that story. In the story of the crucifying of Christ, there's an interesting nugget hidden within. The soldiers at the foot of the cross say in Scripture that they saw the earthquake. Saw an earthquake? The Christ on the tree could not be shaken. I want to be that kind of tree.