Walk, don't run!!
How to be a tree
I realllllllly wish I liked running.
Few things in my life have been more consistent than the direct correlation between training running and complete meltdown.
I wish things could be better between us…it just doesn’t come easily to me. I’ve never been able to achieve that elusive “flow state” that I hear my (athletically talented, running-enthusiast) friends and family talk about with a twinkle of contentment in their eyes.
Maybe I haven’t tried hard enough, or trained the skill long enough. But, so far, there’s nothing a 30-minute jog can do for me that a 30-minute walk can’t do better.
Still, the imagery of the “race” is a pretty pervasive and effective one throughout scripture. The author of Hebrews exhorts the reader to “lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely” and “run with endurance the race that is set before us,” following the example of Jesus along the way (Hebrews 12:1-2). Likewise Paul, facing certain execution for his ministry work, reassures Timothy that “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7).
Now, this certainly isn’t intended to read as a criticism of Paul or the author of Hebrews—but metaphor is metaphor for a reason. So, consider this one as well: a pointed, intentional walk.
There’s benefit to the marathon imagery as it relates to the building of endurance, which is certainly a necessity in the life of the believer. After all, you’ll certainly face difficulties in life, whether they’re direct attacks on your faith or not; the best—maybe the only—way to weather these inevitable storms is with a steadfast, unwavering faith.
But the walk adds something else to the picture: slow, intentional engagement with a specific goal in mind.
I love taking walks. Nothing quiets my mind quite like spending 30 or so minutes just moving; as someone who stares at a computer all day, it’s so rewarding to focus my energy on something purely physical. I think that this is how runners usually feel when they talk about “flow;” people who enjoy swimming, or cycling, or rowing, or any manner of other repetitive activities can probably relate, as well.
And, though the level of endurance that’s needed is certainly different, I think that the central message is really the same with both images, especially as it relates to faith.
The walk and the marathon are both reminders that none of this comes quickly. There’s no fast-track to sanctification or drive-thru holiness experience where you can get it all over with in one fell swoop.
I want to bop around the Bible and know all the memory verses and have a scripture reference for every thought—but I need to spend the slow, intentional time meditating on the word that will actually imprint those words on my mind and in my heart.
I want to have a quick and complete answer for every theological/apologetic question I come across—but I need to invest the long hours of reading and contemplation it takes to really understand who God is and how all this works.
Lately, Psalm 1 has been popping up in lots of different places. Coincidentally (or maybe intentionally), it’s the perfect passage of scripture to illustrate this concept. Read below:
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.
The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away.Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
for the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.
Here, in this opening Psalm, we have a sort of “choose your own adventure” situation. Two types of life are presented:
The life of the unrighteous
Walks in the counsel of the wicked
Stands in the way of sinners
Sits in the seat of scoffers
There’s no depth, no life here; he is “like chaff,” or the papery husk of a wheat seed that is swept away by the wind. But, that’s not the only option.
The life of the righteous
Delights in the law (also translated “instruction”) of the Lord
Meditates on that instruction day and night
Sustained by constant interaction with the Lord and his words, the righteous man flourishes “like a tree planted by streams of water.” He yields fruit; he is prosperous; his way is known by the Lord.
None of this means that the righteous person is completely shielded from hardship; consider these parallel verses from Jeremiah 17:7-8:
“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
whose trust is the Lord.
He is like a tree planted by water,
that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
for it does not cease to bear fruit.”
Heat and drought—which, I imagine, are probably a tree’s greatest threats to health and safety—are basically guaranteed here. But, though they do present difficulty, he “does not fear” them and “is not anxious” on account of them, solely because of the sustaining life force provided by the stream he’s drawing upon day in and day out.
Trees are strong, sturdy, and semi-permanent; they’re not weeds that grow up quickly after a soaking spring rain and then wither in the summer sun; they’re not bushes with flowers that bloom once and then die out at the first frost.
Likewise, the life of the righteous man—and the righteous woman—is no flash in the pan. It’s not marked by a 100-yard-dash of exceptional spirituality followed by days, months, years of coasting. You can’t push a little harder, go a little faster, and get the hard part over with quicker so that you can relax and enjoy your recovery.
It’s a walk. It requires endurance. It requires intentionality. It requires a daily dedication to committing oneself to trusting the Lord and meditating on his instruction.
Thankfully, as Hebrews 12 reminds us, we have an example to follow; not only in the “great cloud of witnesses” whose stories are preserved for us in the Bible and throughout the history of the church, but in the very life of Christ himself, “the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”
“Consider him,” the author reminds us in verse 3, “who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.”
A recommendation:
This visual commentary on Psalm 1 will help you meditate on these wise and ancient word in the coming days and weeks. I am blown away daily at the depth and breadth that’s preserved for us in scripture; this video exposits just a tiny portion of that.