The righteous will never be uprooted, but the wicked will not remain in the
land. ~Proverbs 10:30
The righteous is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. ~Psalm 1:3-4
This is what the Lord says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the Lord. He will be like a bush in the wasteland; he will not see prosperity when it comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives. But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” ~Jeremiah 17:5-9
Did any of you happen to catch the story in the news about a month ago about the tumble weed that completely shut down a major highway in Washington State and they actually needed to bring in snowplows to remove them? (Tumble weed news) What a mess! I hadn’t thought much about tumble weed before that story. We don’t really have it around here, so why would I? However, they do serve as a pretty good illustration of the wicked in our Proverb for today. I know, I probably could have entitled today’s thoughts as, “Yet another Review from Solomon,” since we’ve discussed trees and chaff before, but, today, let’s work with the tumble weed and green leaves and see if we can broaden the scope of our understanding a little more in the process.
The tumble weed is an interesting plant. Unlike chaff, which is the hull of a seed, the tumble weed actually grows into a full-sized ball shaped plant, up to 3 feet in diameter. In its life cycle, after flowering, the plant “dies.” The part above ground dries up and eventually snaps off the root system. That sets it free to blow away in the wind. But that is how it scatters its seeds! When the winds come along, you don’t just have little pieces of chaff or dust flying around in the wind, but actual plants! They are way more substantial to deal with than chaff. Even though they are bigger and create a bigger mess, they are still easily removed, from the ground anyway.
In my research about the tumble weed, I couldn’t help but think about the parable of the wheat and the tares, because, in truth, it was by accident that the tumble weed ended up in America in the first place. The tumble weeds more formal name is the Russian thistle. It was accidentally brought to America by Russian immigrants who brought flax to America to grow in the Dakotas.
The flax came contaminated with tumble weed seeds and since there is no natural enemy of the tumble weed, they have been allowed to thrive and flourish here in America. Does that sound like an interesting parallel to, not only the parable of the wheat and the tares, but to evil itself when it entered the hearts of Adam and Eve in the garden? Like the tumble weed, evil does seem to get around and, if you have time to watch the video, you’ll see what a nuisance they have become. They can get big and imposing, again, dealing with what is seen, just like the wickedness around us, “but the wicked will not remain in the land.” They may get big, but eventually, God’s storm can easily sweep them away.
Contrast that with the tree in Jeremiah. “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” “The righteous will never be uprooted.” I like two of the characteristics mentioned by Jeremiah about the tree that we haven’t said much about yet in these three months.
First of all, “it does not fear when heat comes.” Its roots have gone deep and it knows where to continue to receive its nourishment, even when there is heat and drought surrounding it. The tree that is trusting in the Lord is not focusing on its circumstances, it is trusting on its source. Its maker has planted it well so, in reality, it has nothing to fear.
Secondly, “It never fails to bear fruit.” Fruit is a blessing for others. Trees don’t eat their own fruit others do and the fruit that may not get eaten still contains more seed so that other trees can be sown. It has been blessed to be a blessing to others.
Prayer: Father, help me put down roots. Stress causes growth as we naturally try to survive drought and storm.So, I will consider it pure joy whenever I face trials of many kinds, because I know that the testing of my faith produces perseverance. I will let perseverance finish its work so that I may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. Lord, thank You for the resources in Your Word and Spirit that I can reach for. Thank You for the promise that it's worth it! In Jesus' name, amen.
Song: Make Me A Blessing
The righteous is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. ~Psalm 1:3-4
This is what the Lord says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the Lord. He will be like a bush in the wasteland; he will not see prosperity when it comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives. But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” ~Jeremiah 17:5-9
Did any of you happen to catch the story in the news about a month ago about the tumble weed that completely shut down a major highway in Washington State and they actually needed to bring in snowplows to remove them? (Tumble weed news) What a mess! I hadn’t thought much about tumble weed before that story. We don’t really have it around here, so why would I? However, they do serve as a pretty good illustration of the wicked in our Proverb for today. I know, I probably could have entitled today’s thoughts as, “Yet another Review from Solomon,” since we’ve discussed trees and chaff before, but, today, let’s work with the tumble weed and green leaves and see if we can broaden the scope of our understanding a little more in the process.
The tumble weed is an interesting plant. Unlike chaff, which is the hull of a seed, the tumble weed actually grows into a full-sized ball shaped plant, up to 3 feet in diameter. In its life cycle, after flowering, the plant “dies.” The part above ground dries up and eventually snaps off the root system. That sets it free to blow away in the wind. But that is how it scatters its seeds! When the winds come along, you don’t just have little pieces of chaff or dust flying around in the wind, but actual plants! They are way more substantial to deal with than chaff. Even though they are bigger and create a bigger mess, they are still easily removed, from the ground anyway.
In my research about the tumble weed, I couldn’t help but think about the parable of the wheat and the tares, because, in truth, it was by accident that the tumble weed ended up in America in the first place. The tumble weeds more formal name is the Russian thistle. It was accidentally brought to America by Russian immigrants who brought flax to America to grow in the Dakotas.
The flax came contaminated with tumble weed seeds and since there is no natural enemy of the tumble weed, they have been allowed to thrive and flourish here in America. Does that sound like an interesting parallel to, not only the parable of the wheat and the tares, but to evil itself when it entered the hearts of Adam and Eve in the garden? Like the tumble weed, evil does seem to get around and, if you have time to watch the video, you’ll see what a nuisance they have become. They can get big and imposing, again, dealing with what is seen, just like the wickedness around us, “but the wicked will not remain in the land.” They may get big, but eventually, God’s storm can easily sweep them away.
Contrast that with the tree in Jeremiah. “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” “The righteous will never be uprooted.” I like two of the characteristics mentioned by Jeremiah about the tree that we haven’t said much about yet in these three months.
First of all, “it does not fear when heat comes.” Its roots have gone deep and it knows where to continue to receive its nourishment, even when there is heat and drought surrounding it. The tree that is trusting in the Lord is not focusing on its circumstances, it is trusting on its source. Its maker has planted it well so, in reality, it has nothing to fear.
Secondly, “It never fails to bear fruit.” Fruit is a blessing for others. Trees don’t eat their own fruit others do and the fruit that may not get eaten still contains more seed so that other trees can be sown. It has been blessed to be a blessing to others.
Prayer: Father, help me put down roots. Stress causes growth as we naturally try to survive drought and storm.So, I will consider it pure joy whenever I face trials of many kinds, because I know that the testing of my faith produces perseverance. I will let perseverance finish its work so that I may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. Lord, thank You for the resources in Your Word and Spirit that I can reach for. Thank You for the promise that it's worth it! In Jesus' name, amen.
Song: Make Me A Blessing
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