Plants Grow

By Kevin Van Wyk
My office has two plants in it. One I used a couple of years ago for a sermon illustration as someone had given it to the church, and it did not get any water for a few weeks. Its leaves were drying up, so I tried to revive it. Unfortunately, it was too late. The leaves are all gone and the sticks continue to dry out on my desk, reminding me of what happens when we are not nourished by the Word of God and the Spirit of God.
 
The other plant was a Christmas gift from Jessa. It’s at least a couple of years old. I recently repotted it as it was in a tiny pot all this time. I’ve watered it a couple times a week all this time and it has thrived. Now, consider Psalm 1…
 
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,
2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
    and who meditates on his law day and night.
3 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.
 
This is why we included this statement in our Covenant Partner Vows. “I will grow to be like Jesus by studying God’s Word.” The psalm calls this meditation, but this is not about some New Age practice or Eastern religion. You don’t just sit there and repeat words over and over in hopes that God will reveal something to you. This is about prayerful, theological reflection. You must learn to study God’s word. 
 
But this is not for the church’s sake! This is for you! Notice verse three. If you do this, you are like a tree planted by a stream. You are being fed continuously. This is more than a once a week drink. 
 
So let me give you some practical steps to drink…

1. Open your Bible often. The YouVersion Bible app makes the Bible available wherever you are. You can even let it read to you. So, next time you are harvesting, crank up the Bible and listen to First Corinthians.
2. Get a Study Bible. This is one of the most helpful tools you can get for easy access to answer questions as you read the Bible. I wrote about the best options back in December, 2021.
3. Join a small group this fall. Tell Pastor Doug you are interested, and we’ll do all we can to plug you in.
4. Read “Knowing Scripture” by RC Sproul. This is a fabulous book in our library and on Hoopla that helps you grasp the power, authority, and necessity of the Bible. 
5. Read (or listen) to audiobooks. So, I am on vacation taking Steph to help her mom and dad recover from surgery and illness down in Florida. We made it here a few hours ago. On the way here… 
   1. We finished a biography on Benjamin Franklin and found out he kinda believed in God, but didn’t really trust Jesus. It was an eye opener about liberalism in America’s beginning.
   2. We started a biography on George Whitefield and learned he initiated Methodism as a Calvinist movement. This was an inspiring book!
   3. We listened to half of Francis Chan’s most recent book with much discussion about his flawed theology on unity and disregard for truth.
   4. We then started “The Doctrines that Divide” by Erwin Lutzer. This one took a far better approach to true unity, even though I disagree with his conclusions on baptism.

 
Obviously, It’s a long drive, but we’ve had great discussions, and I feel like I’ve been laying in that stream in Psalm 1. Join me for a swim!
​