GROUNDED DEEPLY

Psalm 1:3 “And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper”

I have always been fascinated with trees. Being from Alabama originally, the pine trees were very prevelant near my home. (I hate pine trees because of their needles.) As a kid we would build our play fort in some big ditch. We would place branches over the ditch and cover the branches with pine straw. But outside of that, I couldn’t see any worth to the pine tree.

In Psalm 1:1-4 there is a contrast between the righteous man and the ungodly man. The righteous man bears fruit and prospers in his life. On the other hand, the ungodly are like chaff which is blown away when the winds come. What makes the difference? What’s the key? I believe the key is the root system.

The street by our home in Germany led from our village down the mountain to the oldest city in Germany, Trier. It was a busy thoroughfare, especially in the morning and afternoon. I awoke one morning to an unusual sound – quiet. I was surprised and didn’t know the reason for all this serenity. During the night we had some very high winds. I felt the window shaking and the wind whistling but didn’t think much about it. The winds had been so severe that the forest looked like a war had taken place. Miles of the road had been blocked. This was no isolated occurance, because devastation had taken place in many others parts of Germany.

After the road was opened we took a ride down the mountain to see what had happened. And what I saw was a very vivid illustration of the concept before us in this blog.

Trees were everywhere and I began to see a pattern – the trees, even though they had reached high into the air, had very shallow root systems. After World War II the Germans had planted trees that would grow very quickly. They achieved their goal and the forest had once again become very beautiful with no evidence whatsoever of the war that had almost destroyed the countryside. But now the German government had the same dilemma again.

The root system is very important, not only to the tree but also in our lives. If we are not grounded deeply, we’ll be blown about when the winds come. Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:14, “That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;”

Some believers never waver. They go on year after year walking with the Lord and serving Him. Other believers, or maybe so-called believers, fall by the wayside because of their lack of a deep root system.

Your root system determines your nourishment. It also determines your strength and stability. What is the root system of a child God? What is it that gives you strength and stability when the winds of this world blow upon us? It is the precious inerrant, infallible Word of God. We find the key to the righteous man in Psalm 1:2, “But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.”

In His instructions to Joshua as he is taking the leadership of the nation of Israel, God said in Joshua 1:8, “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous and then thou shalt have good success.”

Meditation upon and obedience to the Word of God is the root system which stabilizes the child of God when winds of testings come. Let’s not be “chaff” but a tree which stands no matter what comes our way.