PSALM 1:1-3

Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do. (NLT)

TO PONDER:

OK, no pithy story about planting a seed/sapling in the wrong place/soil but I think going directly to the question today’s verses raise; Where are you planted, what fruit is being produced?

I am asking questions not to judge, or bring condemnation towards anyone but rather because those were the questions I heard echoing from the psalmist as he struggles with anguish and joy at the juxtapositions between God’s kingdom and the kingdom of the wicked.

The questions of judgement and consequences, of why the promised overflowing life of John 10:10, often absent within the church, seems unfulfilled and frequents my thoughts and prayers.

In today's verse, the psalmist explores the same questions with the implication that where are we planted, whose advice are we following, where our thoughts and meditation linger - These questions have consequences attached.

Is our delight in the Lord reserved to Sunday worship? Is our meditation hijacked by doom scrolling and the advice we hear curated by algorithms and the bait-&-switch of social media (including old fashioned media)? There are consequences associated with where we are planted, where we “live.”

Jesus invites us, through the words of the psalmist to be planted and deeply rooted in him, the source of the water of life, and to allow him to be the source from which our life flows and the place where we find everything necessary for that 'full' life he promises in John 10:10.

PRAYER: Almighty God, my joy is found in you when my living is planted in your Word. There, I find your promised overflowing life, draw me closer to your love and grace. Amen.

Today's devotion written by Danny Brock, LifeWay Westside.