The psalmist was a good observer of nature. He studied the palm tree and cedar of Lebanon before using them to describe the life of a righteous man. Here in Africa, we have palm trees around us. It is if tree of great economic value and importance. Those in agri business will agree with me that a palm tree is a resource to the people and its owner.
There are lessons to learn from the palm tree. We shall continue from where we stopped previously.
#2. Palm tree doesn't die young, it grows old
Every palm tree tries to grow tall so that it can photosynthesize properly. When other trees grow as a covering over plants, such plants die young because it does have access to sunlight. The palm tree finds sunlight by all means for its growth. The secret is proper positioning.
If you don't want to die in your spiritual walk with God, you have to position yourself in such a way that all hindrances preventing your growth would be left behind.
You will never find the palm tree in a position that will prevent it from getting sunlight. The Palm tree is wise, we should be wiser.
Psalm 92:13 says, "Those that be planted in the house of the LORD Shall flourish in the courts of our God".
Position yourself in a church where proper teaching of God's word can reach you. Your flourishing is dependent on your access to necessary growth factor like quality teaching of God's word. Some are stunted in growth as believers because they are not getting quality teaching from scriptures. They attend church quite alright but they are fed with spiritual junks.
The palm tree doesn't die young because it position itself in such a way that sunlight can reach it for proper growth. Some believers are wrongly positioned in a place of worship where all they get is entertainment and not the exegesis of God's word. They just love the ambience, the music and the class of people that attend the church.
When you engage such people, you'll hear so much about every other thing but not on how the word has contributed to their growth. They can tell you about the suit of the preacher, his cars, the beauty of the pastor's wife, the dressing of choristers and greeters. When you ask, why do you like the place, you may hear, "I just love the atmosphere". Would they have loved the place if it were in a slum but with God's fire? That is not to say I'm supporting mediocrity in our churches.
However, we must not reduce ministry and the proper feeding of God's people to multi coloured lights, smoke engine, altar decoration, sounds, music, entertainment and aesthetics. What is the essence of a beautiful church without the word of God?
Position yourself where the word is taught explicitly. A place where you are challenged to grow in the things of God and pursue the kingdom. That's where you should position yourself.
