Daily Lesson for October 13, 2014

Daily Lesson for October 13, 2014 comes from Psalm 1:

1 Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
3 He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.

A friend used to say that out here in West Texas we may not have many trees but all the ones we do have are exactly where we want them -- because we planted them.

That is true. But by far the largest and most beautiful trees out here are those which line the banks of the old Yellow House Canyon system, where in times past if water was to be found it was found there. Those trees, lining the draw which in more plentiful times took water all the way to the Eastern fork of the Brazos, are trees you would not expect to find out here in dry Lubbock.

Well rooted and surprisingly well watered, those trees stand tall and shady, and provide greenery in a land whose hues are mostly yellow and brown. And in times of drought they remain strong, drawing their sustenance from sources hidden beneath the surface of the ground. In country where trees are hard to come by and people sometimes wonder if anything can survive, they are a blessing of beauty and also a sign of strength.

That also happens to be the psalmist's description of a good and blessed man, who bears his fruit in season and whose leaves do not wilt in the lean times because his life has been planted in the sustaining waters of God's word.

And I suppose we can plant a tree like that just about anywhere we want.