You are not a tree …

Hymns have quickly gone by the wayside in many churches, but perhaps at some time you stumbled across this old one with the words, “Just like a tree that’s planted by the living waters, I shall not be moved.”

The words to that old hymn sound a lot like these words from the prophet Jeremiah:

“They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought …” Jeremiah 17:8a.

Jeremiah is describing what a person who trusts the Lord is like.  In the previous verse he writes, “But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence” (Jeremiah 17:7).

Those who trust the Lord to the point their hope and confidence is sourced by roots running deep into the fertile soil of God’s Word, drawing sustenance from the Living Water that is Christ, are portrayed as sturdy and steady during difficult times of troubles and trials.

Like a tree planted by waters, they will not be moved.

One problem, though, is some Christians take an aspect of this description too literally. Like a planted tree, they won’t be moved; they remain planted just where they are. They may draw from scripture, but they remain planted where they are in spite of it.

You cannot follow Christ with your feet planted!

“For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps,” 1 Peter 2:21.

Those who try to be a follower of Christ with their feet planted miss the last sentence of the passage in Jeremiah:

“Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit,” Jeremiah 17:8b.

The rich soil of scripture and the life-sustaining Living Water are given so that, like a tree, we are always producing fruit. If you were a tree, you could do that by being planted in good soil alongside water. But you are not a tree. As a disciple of Jesus Christ, you cannot produce fruit by staying planted in place. As a disciple, you must go in order to grow; you have to actively live out the trust, hope, and confidence you have in Christ. Doing that will result in a continual production of fruit.

Are you planted on the couch, comfortable with life? Or are you living out your trust in Christ, producing fruit as a disciple of Jesus?

Scotty