Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers,but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night.
That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers.”
Psalm 1:1-3
The I think we’re all hoping that 2021 will magically bring with it a brand new, fresh start. In a lot of ways, this past year has sort of felt like one of survival – many of us spent more time than usual worrying about jobs, our families, our social lives, and our future. It’s no secret that we Christians are called to lived that are defined as more than just surviving, but what exactly does the alternative look like? What does it really look like to truly thrive?
(In case you are rolling your eyes at the surviving versus thriving contrast, we won’t be spending too much time focusing on that catchy cliche haha!)
Check out the verses above.
They’re the first 3 verses from the book of Psalms, which is by faaaarrrrr the longest book in the Bible (150 chapters!), written by multiple authors, and is one of the most diverse in its themes and topics. With so much wisdom about so many things from so many people, it might be worth our time to investigate what it has to say, and it only makes sense to start right at the beginning.
Think about what you might write if you were recording your thoughts, wisdom, advice, struggles, and knowledge that you’ve learned and experienced over the course of your life.
How would you start? What would you want your audience to read first?
So what does the very first author write in the very first sentence of this divine book of wisdom?
“Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night.”
Probably exactly what you and I would write, huh? Probably not!
The author, King David, begins with a blessing/warning combination that ought to shake us up pretty good. This isn’t a command per se, but we ought to take inventory of our lives to see where/on what we place our attention.
How do our daily “steps” look?
In which direction are we headed?
With whom are we heading that direction?
Let’s continue and look at the his next sentence:
“That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers.”
This verse paints a beautiful picture of what thriving truly looks like – green, lush, vibrant, rooted, growing, fruitful lives. Doesn’t that sound wonderful?
The key from this second verse is recognizing where our “tree” (that is, our lives and souls) is planted (that is, our identity and security).
If we want to yield fruit and if we want to prosper across various measures, we need to be planted near “the streams of water.” Jesus is our living water, and if we are planted near Him, we will thrive like the tree above. If instead we plant ourselves in our culture, our politics, our careers, even our friends and families – we will wither and be fruitless.
Jesus himself is our source of life and King David plainly states that this is the way. In contrast, as he mentions in the first two verses, the wicked seem to be on an entirely different path altogether. While the path of the wicked and the path of the righteous are indeed worlds apart (there are no similarities in their directions or their destinations), the day-to-day trek along each path may not look too different. In fact, the path of the wicked often mimics and imitates the righteous path and can be a dangerous mirage to those who think they have found a way other than through Jesus.
This is where we come back to the cliche of surviving versus thriving. Indeed, the more we explore these specific verses and these concepts in general, the more we will realize that surviving is not really the opposite or the only alternative to really thriving in life.
The opposite or thriving is actually perishing.
Thriving is life with God; perishing is life without Him.
To fit the term “surviving” into this, perhaps it is more of a mental state of how we view our day-to-day encounters, challenges, and victories. This apathetic and uninvolved mindset could be a struggle both for those with God and those without Him, but the truth still stands:
There are only two paths.
There are only two steams.
– Where do you spend most of your time and attention? Who or what is the main focus of these areas in your life?
– Check out Jeremiah 17:7-8, in which Jeremiah expands on this same thriving tree metaphor. What else can you learn from these verses?
– Is your delight in the law of the lord? Do you meditate on it day and night? What would be one helpful adjustment you could make in your life to move in this blessed direction?