Like a Tree... Planted with Deep Roots
Meg Chaney
Welcome back to the Like A Tree Summer Devotional Series! If you’d like to listen to today’s Podcast, follow the link here. Or enjoy the written version below.
Let’s start by reading Psalm 1:3 together.
“He is like a tree planted beside streams of water that bears its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers”
Today we’ll be looking at the very first part of this verse, “He is like a tree planted”. What does it mean, when we compare our Christian walk to a tree? What kind of roots are we planting in our own lives?
As a military spouse, I know what it’s like to uproot, and plant myself at a new location. In the past 12 years, we’ve lived at six different addresses. Maybe you can relate? Military or not, many of us have experienced addresses changes. Either from jobs or other life circumstances, moving so often can leave you feeling a little unsettled, uprooted, without footing. When you move often, you change churches often. Jobs, friendships, favorite Saturday traditions, they all change with your location. Maybe you’ve been fortunate enough to never change your address. My husband lived in the same house his entire childhood! His mom still lived their until just recently. But still, life changes, career changes, friends moving away, changes in churches, can leave you feeling so unsettled.
This image of the tree, reminds us to consider where our roots are truly planted. If my roots were just planted at my physical addresses, they would be in sorry shape by now! Instead, my spiritual roots have to be grounded in a much deeper place. In the Lord.
The LORD is the one with whom I am grounded.
In my early morning devotions, I’ve been reading through Angie Smith’s new book, Woven. In it, she encourages you to think about the Bible as one story, connected by threads from the beginning to end. I was reading, in particular, about King Saul and King David. King Saul was the first King of Israel. He was handsome, tall, mighty in battle. He was a gallant king. He played lips-service to the Lord, but it only ran skin deep. At the root level, He wasn’t right with God.
And so God found the next king of Israel, a young man named David. David would make his share of massive mistakes as well, but was still called a man after God’s own heart. His faith in God, His repentance when He made mistakes, both big and small, was real, he was truly rooted in the Lord.
The Bible is filled with such examples of imperfect people who make big mistakes, but the real question comes down to the root level. Who did they truly serve? Whose side were they really on?
I love what the Lord said to the prophet Samuel, when He was searching for the next king of Israel after Saul:
“But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or his stature, because I have rejected him. Man does not see what the Lord sees, for man sees what is visible, but the Lord sees the heart.”
Think about it. The Lord cares about so much more than physical appearance. He sees our true faith at a root level. He see us at a level no one else can. I find that so precious, don’t you?
So let’s consider this tree, planted by a stream of water. It may be beautiful in appearance, it may have blooms in the Spring, but how is it planted? Are it’s roots deep? If it’s all show, but doesn’t have roots, it really won’t last long.
This week, let’s think about our faith, on a deep level. What might we need to work on to strengthen our roots? How can we nourish our souls, through moments of quiet, prayer, and scripture reading? How can we encourage each other through the process?
The Lord sees you, friends. He knows who you are at the root level! Be encouraged.