The Fruitful Life: Reflections on Psalm 1:1-3

"How blessed is the man who does not
   walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!


But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
And in His law he meditates day and night.


He will be like a tree firmly planted by
   streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers."
~Psalm 1:1-3~


   When I read these three simple verses tonight, two amazing things jumped out at me: 1) The man (in this post I am going to use the word "man" loosely. I am really referring to my brothers and my sisters.) of God runs from sin, and 2) he runs to the Word.

Keep walking.

   In my life, I have noticed how easy it is to walk away from the Lord when I follow the pattern described in verse 1. We all have to walk through the ways of the wicked sometimes. It is just part of living in this world. But when we begin to stand there, instead of continuing to walk through, we make it so much easier to observe their sin. And then, the more we stand there, and watch them sinning, the easier it is to get involved. So for example, if I walk up to someone because I need to tell him something, and that person is slandering another, I have just taken the first step. But that is inevitable. I didn't know ahead of time that he would be sinning like that. However, if I stand there and listen, I am now entering phase two - "standing in the path of sinners." The longer I stand there, the easier it is to get involved in that conversation and tear someone down. 
   The journey into sin is often a gradual one. It starts off small. King David recognized this. That is why he warned the wise reader about the early stages of sin. In order to avoid this deadly cancer called sin, we must hate it and run from it at its earliest stages. Don't be one who walks in the counsel of the wicked. Look ahead of you and walk the other way. Don't be one who stands in the path of sinners. If you got that far, just keep walking. And don't, please don't, be one who sits in the seat of scoffers. Once you are this far, you need to repent, get up, and walk away. Sometimes this is super hard to do. I know. I've been there. This is where you need to cling to the Word of God, pray for a work of God, and run to the people of God. God designed all of these to draw you closer to Himself.
   And speaking of the Word of God, this is the second thing that jumped out at me. The man of God runs to the Word of God. It is his delight. He is continually thinking about it. It is almost like David is describing a love story here. The man of God loves God's Word. He isn't saying that the man of God reads it often, has a daily read-through-the-Bible-in-a-year plan (though that is a good thing), owns 20 Bibles, or even preaches the Bible. He is saying that he loves it. It is a matter of the heart. And this is shown by his actions. He is constantly meditating on it: when he wakes up, when he is eating his Wheaties, as he drives to work, when he is opening his lunchbox, when he arrives home at home to an emergency in the kitchen, as he plays with his kids before bed, and as he kisses his wife goodnight. You get the picture. This guy has God's Word on his mind all the time (just a thought: he probably doesn't have it memorized all the time, it is probably written on little scraps of paper here, and in a notebook there, etc.). He loves God's word. And the people around him can tell.

The man of God is like the tree.
He is steadfast, fruitful, faithful, and prosperous.

   And the combination of avoiding sin and loving God's Word leads to fruitfulness. Picture the biggest tree you have ever seen. It's roots go deep and long. It has 300 rings. It is old, but sturdy. It has been at that particular river bank for the last 3 centuries. It is almost a legend itself. And on the outside, it produces the most delicious fruit year after year. The farmers in the area all have a share in its fruit. That's how big and productive it is. Every year, farmers, kids, and animals a like go to this tree to eat of its delicious dainties. This is kind of what verse 3 is talking about. The man of God is like this tree. He is steadfast, fruitful, faithful, and prosperous. He is indeed blessed by God.
   So what about you? Do you see a pattern in your life of running from sin? Or do you find yourself often walking by, standing with, or sitting next to sinners?
   Do you love the Word of God or do you just read it every once in a while because your pastor or priest told you it was a good thing to do? Or do you even read the Bible at all?
   I challenge you: Hate sin. Run as hard as you can from it. And love the Word of God. Run to it as often as you can.
   Because this is a heart issue, it isn't something that is going to turn on like a switch overnight. But stay faithful, your discipline will soon turn into your desire.