The Growing Tree/Person

Scripture: Psalm 1; Jeremiah 17:8

Theme: Spiritual Formation

Title: The Growing Tree

INTRO:

Grace and peace from God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit!

I want to talk to you today about trees.

That is right – Trees.

According to the latest statics there are over 3 trillion trees growing all over the world. That means that there are 422 trees for every person currently living on our planet. The Four largest countries with trees are:

1. Russia – with 642 billion trees (146 million – 4,397 trees per person)

2. Canada with 318 billion trees (38 million – 10, 027 trees per person)

3. Brazil with 302 billion trees (213 million – 1,418 trees per person)

4. USA with 228 billion trees (331 million – 689 trees per person)

I think it is easy to say that God loves trees. Why else would there be over 3 trillion trees growing around our planet.

The Bible is full of passages that speak about trees. More than 35 different trees are specifically mentioned in the Bible. Trees appear in the first chapter of the book of Genesis and in the last chapter of the book of Revelation. And we all know about some very important trees:

+The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in Genesis 2:17

+The Tree of Salvation – The Cross of Calvary – John 19:17

+The Tree of Life – Revelation 22:14

While it would be interesting for us to focus on any one of those three trees this morning, I want to focus our attention on the tree that we find in Psalm chapter one. That tree is wonderfully described in verse three:

“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.” (ESV)

You have to admit that is a rather interesting tree. That is a rather out of the ordinary way to look at someone as a person. And yet, as the Psalmist shares his message he alludes to such a tree as a way of getting across his meaning.

Let’s take a few moments this morning and look at verse three a little deeper and see how this tree can help us understand how we can be such a tree/person for the LORD. Let’s see how we can be a tree/person that has a never ending supply of nourishment, that lives a limitless life of continual growth and be a person of great resource for all those around us.

The first thing that we notice is that we have to have:

I. Deep roots in the right place

This tree that is mentioned here in verse three is not one that resulted from a seed merely dropping from the beak of some bird or that landed somewhere on the wiles of the wind.

The Hebrew words used here by our Psalmist are particular in nature. The idea is that it is a tree that has been planted on purpose. It has either been planted purposely with a seed or is a tree that has been transplanted from one place to another.

Whatever is the case the idea is that it has been put there intentionally. Its location is not by accident. It’s by design. It has been put in a place where its roots can grow strong and deep.

Now, let’s take a moment right here and do some thinking. Let’s ask ourselves a question or two:

+Where are we sinking our roots?

Where are we taking root today – what type of soil do we find ourselves?

After all, positioning oneself means a great deal to our being able to fulfill God’s purpose in our lives. Positioning oneself has a lot to do if we are going to enjoy a successful and victorious life.

Take for example, in the world of business it matters a great where you place your business and who you want to target. It can mean all the difference between success and failure.

Let’s look at the Goodlettsville, Tn based retailer Dollar General.

Even in the midst of a pandemic, Dollar General did not sit on the sidelines. Dollar General opened up 1,000 new stores, remodeled 1,670 stores, relocated 110 stores and closed 101 units in 2020. That brought the total number of their stores to over 17,000 in 46 states all located within five miles of 75% of the USA population.

You would think that they might want to pause but this year (2021), Dollar General has 2,900 real estate projects in the pipeline, with plans to open 1,050 new stores, remodel 1,750 stores and relocate 100 stores. Their future plans are to have over 30,000 stores in operation and double their annual retail income from 33 billion dollars a year to over 70 billion dollars a year.