Transplanted

I was reading through the first chapter in Psalms this week and was struck by the use of a single word, or more exactly, a single word's translation. I have highlighted that word in the following passage. The word is "planted."

"Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, 2but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. 3That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither - whatever they do prospers." - Psalm 1:1-4

I read out of a study Bible and in the notes at the bottom of the page for Psalm 1 there is a comment that says the best translation should have been "transplanted," instead of "planted."

Think about that for a moment. Planted implies growing something from a seed. Transplanted means moving something that is already BEEN planted - from one place to another.

Didn't God do that with each of us? Hasn't He transplanted us from the lives we were living and placed us into other lives, after we came to faith in Christ? And it was all for His glory, wasn't it?

It indicates to me that our faith is not so much OUR doing as it is God's. We are "like a tree transplanted." Does a tree transplant itself? No! Then who is the transplanter? It's God!!

How blessed are we that God would care enough about us to dig us up out of the poor, lifeless soil where we once lived and place us next to a life-giving river, Jesus Christ, where we will flourish!

The next time you doubt your faith or question your worth in God's eyes, remember Psalm 1. Your leaves will never "wither" because you have eternal life through faith in the Lord God Almighty!