Trees are awesome!

Forests in the mountains. Palms along the beach. Mangroves in the islands. Branches you can reach. Orchards filled with goodness. Redwoods thick and tall.  Leafy canopies of green. Colors in the Fall.

It’s hard to imagine a world without trees. There are over 60,000 known species and some can live for thousands of years!

Shelter. Shade. Oxygen. Olives. Firewood. Furniture. Apples. Almonds. Peaches. Paper. Lumber. Limes. You get the idea. Trees are awesome!

American writer, Joyce Kilmer, wrote a poem in 1913 entitled “Trees.” It begins with the famous opening line: “I think that I shall never see a poem lovely as a tree.”

Two other famous “poems” about trees were written thousands of years earlier.

“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, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. 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” (Psalm 1:1-3).

“Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit” (Jeremiah 17:7-8).

At our church, we talk a lot about the Psalm 1 Tree. In fact, Psalm 1 is engraved in the baseboard around our sanctuary. It’s a reminder that we want people to be healthy, stable, growing, and fruitful.

Of course, sometimes trees fall over. It happened recently to a couple of friends of mine. One had a big tree fall in his yard during a storm because the roots weren’t deep enough. It made a huge mess. The other had a big tree fall on his house because the trunk was rotten. It tore up the roof.

Think about your life. What kind of tree are you?

Your “roots” are reflected in your core identity. Who are you? What are your main convictions and beliefs? Do you love God and take him seriously?

Your “trunk” is reflected in your personal growth. What is happening to you? What kind of person are you becoming? What are you focused on? What are you learning? How are you living?

Your “branches” are reflected in your influence on others. What is happening through you? How are you impacting the people around you?

God loves you and wants you to be healthy, stable, growing, and fruitful… like a Psalm 1 Tree. Able to handle storms and droughts. Resisting rot and disease. A blessing to those around you. Making the world a better place.

Ask God to help you be a Psalm 1 Tree… because Psalm 1 Trees are awesome!