How to Live a Fruitful Life

They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do.

Psalm 1:3

One of the things I loved about living in Southern California was the proximity of the local mountains. Within an hour’s drive from Los Angeles, I could be in pine forests over 5,000 feet above sea level. Most of the lower hills and valleys, however, are not covered with evergreen trees. Except for a couple of months in the spring, the hills come in various shades of dry and dusty brown.

Not so in the lowest sections of the mountain canyons, however. Even during the driest seasons of the year, you can find evergreen oaks, alders, and sycamores. Why? Because these trees draw moisture from the water that collects in the canyon bottoms. Tree roots penetrate deeply into the soil, allowing the trees to flourish throughout the year.

Psalm 1 paints a similar picture of healthy, fruitful trees. They don’t wither. They’re always productive. Why? Because they’re planted by streams of water. Their roots always supply what the trees need to prosper.

I want to be like one of these trees. Don’t you? I want to live fruitfully. I want my life to count. How can I make sure this happens? By allowing my roots to grow deeply into the stream of God’s own life. I will live a truly productive life if and only if I am profoundly connected to the living God.

Psalm 1:2 adds that those who are like fruitful trees "delight in the law of the LORD, meditating on it day and night." These Daily Reflections are meant to encourage that kind of delight in and meditation upon God's Word. As you use this devotional guide, may you indeed fill your mind and heart with the transforming truth of God.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION: To what extent are you like the trees in Psalm 1:3? What helps your roots to grow deeply into God’s life?

PRAYER: O Lord, I want to be like those trees! I want to live a fruitful life. I want to be resistant, so that I don’t wither away when things are hard. I want to prosper, so that my life makes a real difference for you in this world.

All of this is possible, but only if I let my roots grow deeply into your living water. When I try to live by my own effort, I exhaust myself and begin to wither. My fruit dries up or never even appears. But when I spend time with you, when I meditate upon your Word, when I open my heart to you in prayer, when I join with your people in worship, when I offer myself to you each day as your servant, then I live an abundant life. By your grace, may I be a truly prosperous tree because I am planted firmly in you. Amen.