The Men We Were Meant To Be
I love the song Made for More. It reminds me of my passion for helping people. Today, I’d like to speak to men. I’m convinced we are all made for more. But how do we become the men we were meant to be? The husbands who love their wives? The dads who sacrifice for their children?
May 2019. The Arkansas River jumped its banks and swallowed everything between Fort Smith and Pine Bluff. Bottomland farms, county roads, whole stands of timber on the ridges — gone. Cleared. Toppled in long, broken rows.
But down by the water, where you’d expect the worst of it, one old cottonwood was still standing. Roots so deep the flood couldn’t find the bottom of them. The trees that died were the ones that grew where it was easy. The tree that lived had been drinking from the river all along.
That cottonwood is Psalm 1.
The Path He Refuses
David opens with a man who knows what to avoid: “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful” (Psalm 1:1, NKJV).
Notice the verbs: walks, stands, sits. First, a stroll. Then a stop. Then a seat. Sin is rarely a leap. It’s a drift. In other words, don’t go down that path of temptation. If you do, keep walking, or in our day, keep scrolling. Don’t stop. Don’t stand, and dear God don’t sit. If we resist that temptation? The Hebrew word for “blessed” is plural. Literally: “Oh, the happinesses of…” It’s not a flat description. It’s a happy cry.
The Pleasure He Receives
But the blessed life isn’t built on what you say no to. It’s built on what you say yes to. “But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night” (v. 2).
The Hebrew word for “meditate” is hagah. The same word is used elsewhere for a lion growling over prey. To mutter. To chew. To roll a verse around in the mouth until it bleeds flavor. This is not silent contemplation. This is a soul savoring God’s Word like a meal.
The Permanence He Reflects
Then comes the picture: “He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water” (v. 3). The word “planted” means transplanted on purpose. Someone chose the spot. The tree didn’t sprout there by accident. It was set there by a Gardener who knew exactly where the water ran.
Drought comes. The leaves on the ridge curl up and let go. But the cottonwood by the river drinks from a current nobody can see.
You don’t have to manufacture fruit. You just have to stay planted. Stay faithful wherever you are. No matter where that is today. Bloom where you are planted.
Keep Looking Up!
May God bless your day.
Related devotionals: What the Bible says about marriage · Bulletproof Christian marriage · Devotional for dads
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