The "Best" Reach ... Always
Psalm 1
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.
Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
That the wind blows away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgement,
Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.
First things first. We can not take hold of anything until we have first reached for it. Then once we have it in our hand, we must choose what to do with it. It’s a simple reality that everything we take hold of, has the potential to either be moved by us or move us. We pick up our laundry and move it to the washer. We take hold of bread at the market and move it to our home. But there are those things that move us. Once in hand, they compel us towards something. Good or bad…..they compel movement. So what we reach for with out hands directly impacts what comes next in our lives. Clean clothes? Bread on the table? Harmful things or helpful things….they bring a change as they “move us”. Therefore our first step towards good or harm is found in what we are reaching for.
I’ve found that wisdom and maturity call us to reach with careful intentionality. They stir in us a longing for deeper understanding of what is of value, to reach for what is beneficial, and to choose carefully what we move or are moved by.
What do we reach for?
This writing comes at the end of a recent trip to Kenya to serve and teach. It was an intense course with many possible ways to mess-up. Teaching Kenyan pastors the techniques and strategies needed when counseling those in crisis and ongoing trauma means that we must be very careful with “what we hold in our hands”. Realizing that each pastor in class has endured their own path of injury and pain, we must attend to their hearts as we intentionally teach them how to care for others. The reach towards them must be clean and uncluttered of the unnecessary and wasteful. Only God could accomplish what is needed. So to do this humbling work — decluttering of mind and careful focus is a must.
I’ve found the most effective way to prepare my heart is to first reach for the WORD. It steers my thoughts, slows me down, and declutters my focus. It feeds me and waters me as it directs and guides me. It moves me. Only then am I able to reach towards others in a way that could move them well.
The work requires deep intentionality of mind in order to serve what is needed. I prayed — “Father, what words from your Word do I need to reach for and take hold of? What tool is needed in my heart, mind and soul?” Like a whisper it came — “Psalm 1”.
123 words packed into 6 verses that can quiet the mind, focus our thoughts, guide our choices and strengthen our resolve. Simplicity for the soul, decluttering for the mind. And so I began.
“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.”
Notice the progression of movement — from walking, to standing, to sitting. Life does that to us. We begin with a fervor to walk….then the journey gets long….until sometimes weariness of heart just sits us down where we never wanted to land. This Psalm reminds us to be intentional about who we walk with…who we invite to journey with us…who we allow to be our traveling companions. It’s not about judging others, it’s about choosing carefully and obeying completely. Meditating on God’s Word brings the electrolytes of life.
The next verses say,
“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.”
I love the simplicity of these words. Meditating on them as I memorized them helped me see something I’d never grasped before. As we choose to “delight in” (roll-around-in) God’s Word and focus on its guidance, we allow the Gardener to plant us beside streams of water that flow from HIM. And then to fully grasp this truth — we are NOT expected to move mountains or accomplish monumental, grandiose achievements. What does it say? Simply that we will yield “fruit” in season. Our Father does not expect us to be the vineyard or the grove…..simply that we take in His watering and yield fruit when the season of fruit-bearing is at hand. Realizing that HE determines what fruit….and when the season has arrived. Not us. And my fruit is allowed to be “singular” — not the plural I’ve always imagined it had to be in order to be of value. Singular fruit — at His chosen season — for His good purposes. Then look at what happens even after the fruit has been harvested…..our leaf (singular again) will not wither. So, in the winter of our life, we get to be a dearly loved, “small”, old person who doesn’t wither — but instead we get to remain on the vine and watch it continue to grow and prosper. We get to encourage the other fruit still growing on the vine. To be the un-withered leaf offering shade to the fruit budding around us. Oh friend — can you feel the simple beauty of those words?
Then comes this —
Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
That the wind blows away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgement,
Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
The raw reality for those who do not reach for His Word and let it be their guide? They will, in their own flesh-way of thinking and achieving, find that their life has been more life chaff that has blown away and yielded nothing of value in any season. No botox can keep their leaf from withering, no cream or surgery can keep them glued to the vine of life. No earthly achievement can keep them on “the vine”. They won’t even be allowed to stand up when the judgement day is before them — they won’t be walking or standing in the end of it all — they will only be able to sit….. unattached to the One who wanted to walk through life with them. Oh God…it ends so sadly for them.
“For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.“
To live our lives with the eye of the Gardener on us, letting Him plant us where He chooses and water us with Himself. To allow Him to determine what fruit we bear and when it’s time to harvest what HE has grown in us. Then feeling His salvation pulse through our veins and hold the leaf of us tightly to His ever growing vine — it’s all His and we are allowed to live in His good hands. He is intentional with what He holds.
He is intentional with what He holds.
Oh but for those who chose poorly who they walked with, where they stood, when they sat down, and with no fruit worth eating having grown from their lives — what a horrible moment they will face.
These are the 123 words that fed my soul, watered my tree, and urged me on to choose carefully the who, the where, the when as i stepped on the path ahead.
I memorized them fully, deeply, and meditated on them completely. It can be what we get to hold. It will carry us far. But first — we simply must choose carefully exactly what we reach for.
Jesus, who is The Word, is our best reach. Always.
John 1:14 in part reminds us, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us…”
