Manchaca UMC

Lesson 5: Plant yourself by the stream (Psalm 1:3).  

Doubtless you have heard the old maxim that the three most important factors in real estate are “location, location, and location.” These are also the three key factors in planting a tree that will flourish in a semi arid climate. Since it does not rain in abundance in the wilderness, the tree must be planted close enough to a water source so that its roots can reach the water supply and the tree can flourish in dry times. This is the lesson of Psalm 1:3: (the blessed) “person is like a tree planted by streams of water which yields its fruit in season.” Even in the dry days it will still produce healthy growth. The author of the Psalm lists the two key streams in the first two verses: avoiding bad company and meditating on God’s law (law is best understood here as “teaching”). These days of pandemic may seem like a parched and arid landscape to many of us. Our usual sources of encouragement and comfort have dried up or are currently unavailable. The Psalm reminds us that the two all weather consistent resources which will lead to growth in our life are the experience of community and the study of God’s Word.

I am reminded of a pastor who called on a parishioner facing serious surgery in a hospital. The parishioner begged for the pastor’s prayers and words of comfort. The pastor obliged but couldn’t help but notice the reading material on the patient’s food tray- gossip magazines, a drug store romance novel and a TV Guide. The pastor wryly noted later, “not even five calories on that tray; nothing to nourish the anxious soul!” Some studies are indicating that in these troubled times, people are less connected to their church than they were before the pandemic. Either the church has not found ways to provide community or teaching in this new situation or people are choosing to put other things on their “food tray” during this crisis. I hope that you will take advantage of the Zoom studies we are offering during this time of lockdown and/or use this time to seek out and reconnect with people who have been a source of support and encouragement in the past. I hope you will let us know how best to provide resources for you. Likely most of us cannot cure the pandemic any more than we can make it rain, but we can choose to locate ourselves in God’s Word and among good people and find refreshment there.

~David