I cherish my slow summer mornings at our family’s farm in Michigan. I can sip my coffee on the back porch and listen to birdsong, watch the sun rise over the fields. Looking out over the oak trees, I wish that every morning could be a slow summer morning, but I know that eventually all this lush green will be replaced by gray and brown.
Our lives as trees
There is a beautiful vision given to the prophet Ezekiel in the Old Testament. After seven chapters of describing God’s new temple, he sees that there is water flowing from its entrance. Ezekiel is led through the stream: first ankle-high, then knee-high, then waist-high until the water was too deep to cross. As he walks back along the bank of the river toward the temple, he sees that the water is teeming with life and that there a great many trees lining both sides of the river:
“On the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.” (Ezekiel 47:12, NRSV)
This sounds to me like a perpetual summer, with lush trees producing abundant fruit, never dying or withering.
The Psalmist compares us to trees in a way that echoes Ezekiel’s vision. He says that those who delight in the law of the Lord, who meditate on it day and night “are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper.” (Psalm 1:3, NRSV)
This is an appealing way to live: rooted, growing, and strong, nourished and sustained by the living water. Far better to be this tree than to be chaff blown about by unpredictable wind (Psalm 1:4). And in both Ezekiel’s vision and the psalmist’s description, these trees prosper—not so that we can fatten our bank accounts and indulge in luxurious living, but so that our prosperous lives can be a blessing to others by yielding fruit for food and never-withering leaves for healing.
Becoming the tree
Both texts share wisdom about how to become this vibrant tree, and it’s not from our own striving, strength, or success. In Ezekiel’s vision, the source of the tree’s vitality comes from the sanctuary, from dwelling with the presence of God. We do this by abiding with Jesus, who described himself as the living water (see John 7:37-39).
According to author Alan Fadling, learning to live with God helps us “keep the channel clear so that God’s life, love, joy, and peace might flow freely through us for the benefit of those around us.” *
This is not a quick process: strong trees don’t sprout overnight. Just like the stream flowing from the sanctuary started out small then grew incrementally deeper to the place where the trees grew, cultivating a relationship with God takes time. We don’t produce fruit quickly or by sheer force of will, rather it is the natural result of being rooted in the presence of God.
The psalmist draws a direct line from the flourishing tree to delighting in the law of the Lord and meditating on it day and night. What does this look like, in practical terms? I love what theologian J.I Packer says about meditation in his book Knowing God:
“Meditation is the activity of calling to mind, and thinking over, and dwelling on, and applying to oneself, the various things that one knows about the works and ways and purposes and promises of God. It is an activity of holy thought, consciously performed in the presence of God, under the eye of God, by the help of God, as a means of communion with God.”
J.I Packer
So now, the question becomes: what do I know about the works, ways, purposes, and promises of God? And in what ways can I bring them to mind, as a way of dwelling in those thoughts and drawing near to the presence of God?
Practical Spiritual Practices
Spiritual practices can help us meditate and delight in the law of the Lord, even and especially amidst our busy, ordinary lives.
As I’ve come to realize the importance of knowing God in my life (which is the work of theology) I’ve written a lot about which spiritual practices are especially suited for busy moms like me. I compiled these pieces into an e-book you can download for free here.
If you’d like to dive deeper into fresh and uncommon spiritual practices that help us grow closer to God, consider my self-paced digital course which comes with several short videos and helpful printable resources. Check it out here.
Whether you take advantage of either of these resources or not, I pray that you would click away from here feeling encouraged and empowered to strengthen your connection to Jesus, our living water, and to remain rooted in God.
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*From An Unhurried Leader, p. 43
**Feature Photo by Jonny James on Unsplash
Sarah K. Butterfield 