Windblown

When I was ten years old, I had my first church camp experience. Our camp counselor promised a chocolate bar to whoever would memorize Psalm 1. I earned my nickel Hershey bar (it was 1957, after all), and to this day I can recite Psalm 1.

So I was looking out my window the other day, and these verses came to mind:

⁴The ungodly . . . are like the chaff which the wind drives away.⁵ Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

⁶ For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

                                                                               Psalm 1:4-6  NKJV

Autumn is my favorite season. After the Virginia trees turn from green to glorious yellows and reds, they darken to deep crimson and gold. This year, after all the drama of the color changes, the weather took a sudden snap. Most of the leaves are now crispy brown. Suddenly, it’s very cold, and the wind is squalling. Suddenly, it’s very winter-like.

My husband and I live in a home surrounded by acres of woods where we have a front-row seat to the fall spectacle. We enjoy monitoring the progress of autumn from our window.

Many of the leaves have already fallen to the ground, and this morning, they were at the mercy of the gusting winds. There was quite a performance on the driveway. The dead leaves flitted about in the wind, swirling up in circles and then settling to the ground. They blew toward the right, and a few seconds later, blew back again to the left, twirling and spinning the whole time. They had no power nor desire to control their direction; they only went where the wind drove them.

Have you noticed a lot of this going on in the culture? People’s beliefs go this way and that, depending on whatever is popular. And when a new idea comes along, the old belief is discarded in favor of whatever gets the most press. It puts me in mind of one line of the song, “Trumpet of Jesus,” that says, “I march to the drumbeat of God Almighty while the others just wander around.”

There’s a lot of wandering around these days, just like those leaves. But for those who are marching to God’s drumbeat, there’s joyous purpose to living. Listen to verse 3 of Psalm 1 that refers to those who love the Lord:

He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.

The choices are clear. We can live with purpose and vitality according to God’s Word—bearing fruit—or we can be like the withering leaves and chaff that the wind drives away. There can be no more important decision. One leads to life, and the other to death.

As children of our Heavenly Father, we have the privilege of following Him daily, depending on Him, and receiving His blessings. We have the privilege of life. And He has commissioned us to witness—to tell our stories—to those who need Him.

Let us pray that the Lord will give us a heart for those who are lost, and help us to recognize the opportunities before us. Pray for help to influence those who are like withered leaves to become fruit-bearers in His kingdom.

Happy Thanksgiving!