"He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers." - Psalm 1:3
To put the concept of this fruitful tree in perspective, we have to think about the arid terrain of Israel and understand that a lush tree was considered a anomaly and not the norm. Having a lush, fruitful tree in this climate was considered a blessing from God in the Old Testament.
This is clearly a mature tree since it is bearing fruit. Saplings don't typically produce so if we compare this tree to our lives it would be like a mature Christian who is doing good works for the Glory of God.
For the tree to have become mature, it had to grow. Trees, people, nor Christians, just pop us as fully mature. We all start out weak and small but as trees grow taller, wider, and stronger they mature and begin to develop into the fruit-bearing objects they are designed to be. As Christians, we begin as babes in Christ and we should be growing in our faith daily with Him.
So how did that tree get there? Well trees don't plant themselves and neither do sinful people "plant" themselves into God's kingdom. Salvation is only available by the grace of God. But we have a genuine responsibility to reach out to a lost world. This includes our time, our resources, and our abilities.
Are you a mature enough tree to put off fruit? Are you fertilizing the trees around you? How many trees have you planted? If you are saved, sometime someone somewhere cared enough about you to put their time, energy, and love into your life by sharing the Word of God with you. If you want a bountiful crop, you wouldn't plant one tree and just sit back and admire it, you want plant a whole orchard and nurture those trees as they mature and begin to produce fruit. I believe God's plan for his kingdom is not a tree, it's a forest!
To put the concept of this fruitful tree in perspective, we have to think about the arid terrain of Israel and understand that a lush tree was considered a anomaly and not the norm. Having a lush, fruitful tree in this climate was considered a blessing from God in the Old Testament.
This is clearly a mature tree since it is bearing fruit. Saplings don't typically produce so if we compare this tree to our lives it would be like a mature Christian who is doing good works for the Glory of God.
For the tree to have become mature, it had to grow. Trees, people, nor Christians, just pop us as fully mature. We all start out weak and small but as trees grow taller, wider, and stronger they mature and begin to develop into the fruit-bearing objects they are designed to be. As Christians, we begin as babes in Christ and we should be growing in our faith daily with Him.
So how did that tree get there? Well trees don't plant themselves and neither do sinful people "plant" themselves into God's kingdom. Salvation is only available by the grace of God. But we have a genuine responsibility to reach out to a lost world. This includes our time, our resources, and our abilities.
Are you a mature enough tree to put off fruit? Are you fertilizing the trees around you? How many trees have you planted? If you are saved, sometime someone somewhere cared enough about you to put their time, energy, and love into your life by sharing the Word of God with you. If you want a bountiful crop, you wouldn't plant one tree and just sit back and admire it, you want plant a whole orchard and nurture those trees as they mature and begin to produce fruit. I believe God's plan for his kingdom is not a tree, it's a forest!
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