Articles
The Life That Endures
We’ve been watching the toadstools springing up in our front yard. It’s fascinating the way they appear overnight, reaching full size within hours.
Nearby are two oaks. There they’ve stood for decades. If you watch them from one day to the next you can’t tell they’re growing at all. But they are perhaps twice as tall today as when we first moved here.
This stark contrast between the toadstool and the oak has often been observed by others. One grows at an impressive rate, then after a few days is gone. The other takes its time—lots of time—but what results is something truly solid, with deep, abiding roots.
Both the Old Testament and the New draw a contrast between two ways of living. The first Psalm describes the godly person who walks with integrity and meditates daily on God’s Word, and who is like a tree firmly planted, bearing fruit and prospering.
In stark contrast the wicked are like useless chaff, carried away by the wind.
As I approach my yard, my eyes are more drawn to the toadstools than the oaks. But a few days from now only the oaks will remain.
Lord, may we become like the enduring oaks. Help us grow strong and tall as we sink our roots deeply in You. Help us to see life as You see it, and may we choose the abiding values over that which attracts our attention for the moment, but soon fades away. In the name of Your Son who endured we pray. Amen.
