Living Water (Spring and Summer)

One of my favorite Psalms, is Psalm 1... ¹Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; ²but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.

³He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. ⁴The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

⁵Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; ⁶for the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish This past month my wife and I (as we do every spring) have been talking about how much we both love to see everything becoming so green. No doubt there's beauty in the fall and winter...but it's the spring and summer that really cheer us up. I think all of us just love anything that displays 'living'. It's the same feeling we get when we stand next to a creek or river that's powerfully flowing with water. I think that picture is seen within this Psalm as well. Throughout the bible, there seems to be running theme of water and life. I just especially like the imagery of how it's used here to describe the righteous. He is like a 'tree planted by streams of water"..."it's leaf does not wither." After reading this the other day I happened to also go to the end of Revelation and found what, to me, seems to be a connection. The last 2 chapters of the bible (Revelation 21 and 22) have to be for me some of, if not THE most wonderful words ever written. The picture of the 'new heavens and new earth' are simply breathtaking; and my favorite moment in it lies in chapter 22 verse 1-3, where John talks about being shown the 'Tree of Life' (which Man rejected in the garden) standing besides a river "as bright as crystal" (called the water of life). And the most comforting line here is in verse 2 and 3 that says "...The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed.." I mean....WHAT a beautiful image! Think of the concentration camps....think of those two towers falling in new york.....think of earthquakes in haiti....wives loosing their husbands in mine disasters, Mississippi children being killed by a tornado, every single little baby born, only to die within the first hour of their life; all due to the curse on creation. Now...within that context...meditate on that image; '..the leaves are for the healing of the nations...the 'curse' will be no more. There is nothing that could sound more comforting. So we have in Psalm 1 the image of a tree by water....and in Revelation we seem to have the same image. But the question of course is, how do we get this living water? Are we in ourselves righteous enough to where this Psalm can apply to us? I don't believe so. Remember, God said in Psalm 14 and 51 (which Paul quotes in Romans 3) that 'NO one is righteous'. Jesus though claims that 'all the law and the prophets' were ultimately writing about Him. He is the righteous. It is He who yields fruit....It's him who gives the water as bright as crystal. Remember his discussion with the woman at the well in John 4. Jesus talks about it is Him who will 'give us' living water so that we never would be thirsty again. So we have Christ, who comes in perfection, lives righteously...and therefore, 'becomes like a tree planted by streams of water'....then...GIVES us that water...that life. By us laying down our failed attempts at 'being good' and clinging to Him, his leaves heal us....his water fills us eternally. I think there's a hint of all that in seeing the green of spring and summer. -michael (The picture above was taken at the lake that's in my parents subdivision where i grew up)

Solid, Dry Rocks

This might sound like a cheesy concept that's been told a million times by Christians throughout the years but I'm gonna say it anyway.

While Greta and I were in the Smoky Mountains this week and on our way back, we went to a couple of places where the whole imagery of Christ as a 'Rock on which was stand' (Psalm 40:2) really was clear to me.

In the smokies, we both hiked to the summit of a place called "Chimney Tops" (in the first picture). Once at the top, we stood upon a large area of rocks where we were given an absolute magnificent view of the mountains all the way around.

On the way back we stopped in Cookville, TN and hiked down to a waterfall called "Burgess Falls". Here we viewed the falls from both the bottom, and the top. You can see me in this picture standing at the top on the right.

Now this is what was interesting to me. Both times, I would feel both the sensation of danger and security in the same moment. On the mountain, the height overwhelming. If the rocks were to collapse, we would fall to our death. But of course....they wouldn't collapse. They were solid. It was part of a mountain after all.

On top of the water fall I was a bit sketchy at first to get close to the edge. The surrounding area seemed to be soaking wet. Rocks that are wet may as well not be rocks at all; they may as well be ice. If I fell into the top of a waterfall as tall and powerful as this one I would have either died from the fall, or drowned at the bottom. However, as I got closer, I realized there were many portions that were completely dry right on the edge. This allowed me to stand right in the midst of this roaring water with utmost security.

And this is whats so cool to me. I think God displays His beauty and goodness in such things as a mountain valley or a roaring waterfall. (read my post called 'declaring glory and righteousness if you want). But just those natural beauties, God is also dangerous. Our sin has made us unable to naturally come to him without being destroyed. But that's what makes the gospel so wonderful.

Jesus, in full perfection, allows sinners to stand on the edge with complete security and assurance. It doesn't matter how high up we are, our how powerful the waterfall is, those Rocks were keeping us safe. And whats so wonderful, is that in that security, we don't just rejoice in being "safe"....but we rejoice in getting to be overwhelmed by the beauty that's in front of us. I've not been brought to the edge of the mountain or the edge of the waterfall simply to feel "secure", but to sit in awe of something so beautiful. So that I can say, "Isn't it AMAZING!" So that I can 'praise it.'

Jesus brings us safely to the top to be astonished.

-michael