Psalm 1

How do you view reading the Bible? Is it a chore to be completed? A mystery to be solved? Perhaps it is water to the parched soil of our lives.

A tree planted by streams of water has little to be worried about. The constant refreshment of the streams means that it is not dependent on seasons and rain to be fed (unless the stream goes dry). It will continue to produce fruit in its season (which, as we know up here in Cherryland, is not all the time). It is well-fed and taken care of - constant nourishment and vitality.

Such is the way of a person who is constantly connected to God's Word. Now, it would be impossible to live one's life if they were always with their nose in a Bible. It would be very difficult to be a "doer" of the Word, as James would tell us. But that's not what Psalm 1 is talking about. Psalm 1 invites us to live a life meditating on the Word. In other words, to wonder how God's Word might be shining through in a particular moment. Or perhaps we are invited to see how God's Word might inform our life situation (or behavior). Psalm 1 opens for us a world in which we can have God's Word on our minds in our day-to-day situations. I, for one, am sometimes lacking in my ability to keep Scripture on my mind. But Psalm 1 gives me an image too desirable to refuse the chance to keep the Bible on my mind.