"He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers"
and its leaf does not wither
There are some people who are destroyed or significantly damaged in the course of their doing what they love. This does not happen to those who meditate on God. How many different men have we seen who are a huge business success only to have multiple marriages and disasters for children. It does not matter if in order to produce the fruit that you were made to produce you have to destroy your life. It is the watchword of our day for people to live radically unbalanced lives in order to get meaning and satisfaction out of life.
David uses the imagery of a withering tree. The withering tree – knowing it is dying – tries to produce whatever fruit it can before it dies. God says that you do not have to destroy your family to be a success in business. You do not have to give up on life in order to do the right thing for your family. For those who will spend the time to meditate on Scripture, God will provide a way to not destroy the tree while it produces its fruit.
and in whatever he does, he prospers
There is an interesting double point here in this phrase. He is saying that we will prosper in whatever we want to do, but God is also saying that everything we want will result in prosperity. Once the tree has submitted to being where it needs to be, being fed on the never-ending streams, then everything it wants to do will produce prosperity. In the same way, when we are where we need to be planted, fed on the never-ending grace in the Word of God, then whatever we "want" to do results in God's glory and our prosperity. The fruit tree, when it is healthy, wants to produce fruit. So when we are healthy Christians, we want to please God.
There are times that your past choices may not allow you to be doing your ideal fruit production, but then you begin meditating on Scripture and loving God. God will prosper even your "b" plan so that you will be blessed.
The Scripture is clear that biblical meditation allows God to bless us in whatever we are doing as long as it is not wickedness. The actual phrase is all that he does prospers. There is abundance in whatever situation and circumstance that comes your way. Just as Joseph was blessed in the house of Potiphar and in the jail, so you will be made to prosper when you meditate on the Scripture biblically.
This is an incredible promise and few take God up on this transformational principle. If you will reorient your thinking to God's way, then He will send you blessings. But if you just wait for the blessing and do not change your thinking, then He will not send the blessing because it would destroy you. You must have a godly purpose for the blessing. You must know what God wants to do with the blessing. You must be prepared to use the blessing and prosperity for His purposes and not your own selfish purposes.
This is really the same promise that Jesus gives when He says that He came that we might have abundant life. Prosperity is abundant life. Enough to share. Who will you share with if God were to bless you? Would you share? What part of God's program are you supposed to help?
Until tomorrow,
Gil Stieglitz