Plant Yourself by the Stream

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers, but His delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever he does prospers.

Psalm 1:1-3

This passage says that God’s Law (or His Word) is like a stream of water that refreshes and strengthens us. If we'll plant ourselves beside the Word and meditate on it day and night, then we'll be like a tree planted beside a stream. A tree whose leaves never whither and whose fruit never fails. This analogy tells us that we can grow and prosper endlessly in our faith if we will only ensure a steady flow of God’s Word into our lives. 

Never underestimate the importance of God’s Word in your life. Never believe the lie that you have grown beyond needing to read it. The Bible is endlessly refreshing and nourishing. Its treasures are never-ending. You always need more of it.

But notice that we need a steady flow of the Word, not an occasional dumping. Imagine a tree planted in hard ground. If a big raincloud dumps a bunch of water on that tree all at once, most of the water will run off that hard ground. Very little will have time to saturate the ground and get down to the roots where the tree can take it in and retain it. The tree benefits very little from that kind of rain.

We often make this mistake in our Bible reading. We rush through our Bible reading. We do it quickly just to get it done. And because of that we get very little benefit from it. Instead, I encourage you to read your Bible slowly. Give it time to sink in and saturate your soul and produce life change. 

Often, I will read the same chapter of Scripture everyday for a week and only then move on to the next. This helps me to make sure I don't miss anything in the chapter. It gives me time to think about and understand the more difficult parts of the passage. And it makes it much more difficult for me to ignore the parts that I don't like. Try it in your own life. Here's a Scripture Meditation Plan I am using this year. I invite you to read the Bible slowly with me in 2025.