Yield Fruit in Season

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

This passage assumes that as we travel our spiritual journeys, there are different seasons. For example, there's a season to be "planted," there's a seasons when there's the hardship of dealing with the "wicked... sinners... mockers," and there's a season where we "yield fruit in season." If you know anything about a lemon tree, the fruit doesn't come at once! It may take a few years of growth. Seasons are part of life.

Throughout all the seasons in this passage, the key things that waters and sustains the tree (which symbolizes YOU)  is delighting in God's teaching - consuming it day and night. It's important to realize this is not some legalistic promise that if you memorize a bible verse then everything will go well with you. Instead it's far more relational. The invitation is to delight in God and his ways, to 'sink in' (as Pastor Kristy pointed out a week ago) to all of God's goodness. 

How good are you at sinking in to God? What are some ways you might allow God's ways to seep into your life more? Consider one of the following, or try something else (not as a legalism, but as a simple step of delighting more in God):

• Start to read the bible (I'd recommend starting in the Gospel of Mark)
• Write down a bible verse you like and put it on your mirror or on your car dashboard - to think about it through the day.
• Start the day by making the sign of the cross over yourself before you get out of bed, reflecting on what it means to live under the freedom and love of the cross that day.
• Learn a bible verse or a whole Psalm (like Psalm 1!) together with your roommate or your kid.
• Close each day by saying the Lord's Prayer out loud, together or by yourself.
• Pray for a specific country every day when you brush your teeth.
• Take a walk around the block in the morning and listen to Pray As You Go as you do so. 
• Text a bible verse to a different friend each day for a week - and ask them to text you one.