Green and Succulent 

 

“Those who are planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our GOD; They shall still bear fruit in old age; they shall be green and succulent; That they may show how upright the LORD is, my Rock, in whom there is no fault.”

Psalm 92:12-14

 

The Psalm appointed for the Feast of St. John struck me when preparing for this Daily Word; it has something to do with this time of year and the greenery. This year, like many before it, there is a build-up to Christmas where everything and everywhere is showered in glittering lights and greenery. I love the natural smell that real decorations produce; for me, it sets the Christmas season apart.

 

My wife and I have our own tradition of buying a real Douglas Fir Christmas tree for our house and decorating it as the main tree. It fills the living spaces with its fragrance and the floor with its needles. For me, at least, this messiness separates this season from ordinary seasons in our house: the smell, the slight mess under the tree, and the work. One of the problems of real trees is that they require constant watering or they die fairly quickly. It takes effort to make these beautiful living things survive until Christmas.

 

Even with care and watering, these living green things are now starting to show age and browning, but they survive through Christmas, so mission accomplished! Yet, here is precisely where this Psalm caught my attention, “they shall still bear fruit in old age; they shall be green and succulent.”

 

While decorations and ornaments will be packed away and real — now brown — trees placed on the curb, our life in the Lord is not like these temporal objects; we who are “planted in the house of the LORD [and] shall flourish.” This is beyond comprehension, that we will be with God and flourish, “be green and succulent” forever. This difference in temporality is worth reflecting on, although these holiday seasons pass us by either much to quickly or much to slowly, our final destination with God is forever.


I wonder what emotions or thoughts this stirs within you? Maybe you should take a few deep breaths and meditate for just a few moments on what it might mean for you now that we will be “green and succulent” forever with God as our foundation. 

The Rev. Gregory W. Cross

Curate

If you would like to reply to this devotional, please email

the Rev. Gregory Cross at gcross@smec.org.