no if's, and's or but's

Psalm 1

1 Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked,

or stand around with sinners,

or join in with mockers.

2 But they delight in the law of the LORD,

meditating on it day and night.

3 They are like trees planted along the riverbank,

bearing fruit each season.

Their leaves never wither,

and they prosper in all they do.

How many times have I read Psalm 1?

I don't know.

I know I've heard plenty of sermons using it (usually bad ones ;-) LOL).

When I was reading while back, there were 4 words that came hurtling up from the page that I'd never noticed before.

Could the Lord be pointing something new out to me?!

;-)

Anyway, those 4 words are “bearing fruit each season”.

The psalmist (King David we think) is writing in that verse that godly people “...are like trees planted along the riverbank,bearing fruit each season.”

I think of life as a series of seasons.

At one point, we can be in a season of going to school,

living in this or that place,

working that job,

being in this or that relationship,

or any number of time periods when something is going on.

The thing that struck me was the “bearing fruit” part of the verse.

I seemed like God was reassuring me that no matter where we are or what we are up to,

if we follow Him & try to do His bidding,

we can be sure that who we are & what we doing is in some way making an impact

even if we don't see it, feel it, or have it acknowledged.

Let that sink in for a minute.

Have any of you ever felt like you were “on the shelf”?

iow, it didn't feel like you were being or doing anything that mattered for God.

I know I've felt that way.

But those 4 words rocketed off the page for me – they still do.

“...bearing fruit each season...”

The are no qualifiers in that statement.

There are no preconditions.

No if's, and's or but's.

No matter where we are or what we're being or doing,

if the focus of our lives is following His lead,

then God is using us, whether we see it or not.

At this point in my life, that's an important piece of information.

Maybe it is for you, too.