✝ Daily Encouragement (9/30/24) "Sycamore Tree Lesson"
Published: Mon, 09/30/24
Updated: Tue, 10/01/24
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(Click refresh or reload for current message) Monday, September 30, 2024 
Lancaster
County's 'Old
Sycamore'
estimated to
be some 350
years old!
(Click on photo to enlarge) " Sycamore Tree Lesson" Message summary: Am I like an "oak with fading leaves" or like "a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither"? Listen to our message on your audio player. Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers" (Psalm 1:1-3). "You will be like an oak with fading leaves" (Isaiah 1:30).
We
have two large
oaks in our
front lawn.
They have
grown a lot
since we moved
here in early
2002 but both
have become
diseased, one
more than the
other, with a
condition
known as oak
wilt. Among
other symptoms
it causes the
leaves to die
early in the
season and
many of the
branches are
dead in one of
them.
Last
week I was
visiting with
Ken, a friend
who showed me
an old bank
barn on his
farm built in
the 1800's.
Ken was born
on this
Lebanon County
farm and has
spent his
entire life
there. He
farmed for
several years
as a young
adult before
starting a
business over
45 years ago
with his wife
Audrey which
is located on
the same farm
land.
It
sits along
Little Swatara
Creek which
periodically
floods. This
type of
flooding can
be beneficial
for farmland,
agriculturally
called bottom
land unlike
what we are
seeing in
other parts of
the U.S. Our
thoughts and
prayers go out
to so many in
the southeast
with the
extreme
flooding that
has taken many
lives and
caused
tremendous
damage.
As
we were
visiting Ken
pointed to a
huge Sycamore
tree along the
bank of the
creek. Back in
the early 60's
when he was a
little boy an
elderly man
who was the
prior owner of
the farm told
him that when
he was just a
young boy in
the late
1800's the
tree was the
same size and
Ken told me
that today
it's still
about the same
size. So, in
well over 100
years, the
tree has not
grown much
taller.
It
has a hole in
the trunk but
otherwise
appears
quite healthy
as far as the
foliage. (I
took a photo
of the tree
but since I
couldn't get
down the creek
bank due to
heavy brush
the photo I
took was
unimpressive.)
Psalm
1:3 describes
that a healthy
spiritual life
is like "a
tree firmly
planted by
streams of
water, which
yields its
fruit in its
season and its
leaf does not
wither".
The
second text is
taken from a
portion of
Isaiah dealing
with the
rebellious
nation of
Israel. It's a
stunning
chapter and
includes this
warning
applicable to
all nations, "Woe
to the sinful
nation, a
people whose
guilt is
great, a brood
of evildoers,
children given
to corruption!
They have
forsaken the
Lord; they
have spurned
the Holy One
of Israel and
turned their
backs on Him"
(Isaiah 1:4).
In so many
ways this
describes our
nation today.
Various illustrations are used to describe Israel's condition including today's text, "You will be like an oak with fading leaves" (Isaiah 1:30). Contextually, this is speaking of the nation's condition as the people rebelled against God. Today we can consider this text on the national level (wherever we live) and consider how our nation is "like an oak with fading leaves". It's an interesting analogy to contemplate as we consider the moral and spiritual condition of our land. Let us also consider this verse on a personal level in an examination of our own personal relationship with the Lord and ask ourselves this question: Am I like "a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither" or " an oak with fading leaves"?
Be encouraged today, Hebrews 3:13 Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Today's
Suggested
Music and
Supplemental
Resources "Abide" Listen on YouTube Aaron Williams Brooksyne's note: This song has captured my thoughts day in and day out since first hearing it. It reminds me not to navigate life on my own but to rely daily on Jesus, for He is the "Bread of Life"; the "Way, the Truth and the Life"; the "Well that never runs dry". I'm reminded because these pictures of Christ are sung several times in "Abide". They stay on my mind and in my heart as I go throughout my day.
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