A Tree Planted - All The LORD is near Daily Devotionals for 2024

He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.
Psalm 1:3

A Tree Planted
Just as trees require nutrients, water, and light, Christians require the Word, the Holy Spirit, and the glorious Person of Jesus Christ in their life to flourish. The first psalm pronounces a blessing on any who would distance themselves from the ungodly, to not walk in their counsel. Sinners, just as we once were, are headed down a path to perdition, and we must not stand with them. In our day there are countless who pride themselves in their ability to explain away God, and they outright deride Him in doing so; let us never sit with these ones.

Where do we turn then, and what should occupy our time and our thoughts? Our delight should be in what the Lord has revealed to us in His word. As we meditate on His wisdom and grace, and as we revel in the person of the , only then will we find fulfillment and enjoyment. Only then will we be as a tree planted by rivers of water, not lacking anything, firmly planted and drawing from the Word of God the nutrients we need, applied to our hearts by the indwelling Holy Spirit. "Now we have received the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God" (1 Cor. 2:12).

Our meditations should not be merely religious in practice, but fueled by an attraction to the beloved Lord Jesus. To bear fruit in season, the water and nutrients need to be converted using energy from the sun, and likewise it is only as we have our eyes on Christ that we will bear fruit: "that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power" (Col. 1:10-11).

Eric Clermont