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Read Psalm 1:1-6
“And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper” (v. 3).
Trees need a lot of water. They create the sugars and chemical energies that they need to maintain life and produce fruit through a proce- dure called photosynthesis. This food creation process mostly takes place in the leaves near the top of a tree where the needed sunlight most eas- ily reaches. However, water is also necessary for photosynthesis to take place, and it comes from the roots, often far below the treetop.
A process called transpiration draws water from the roots to the leaves. Water evaporates from the leaves, creating a suction that draws more water upward. As much as ninety percent of the water entering a tree evaporates, leaving just ten percent to aid the photosynthesis process.
However, that water is not lost! Trees play a major role in humidifying the air, helping maintain the rain cycle, and preventing the formation of deserts. Thus trees are beneficial to the earth, not just producing fruit for food, but enabling the vital water cycle that keeps our planet alive.
God wants His people to be fruitful. However, we cannot exert beneficial influence on people around us in our own strength. We must have an inflow from outside ourselves to fuel our fruitfulness. Thus our Heavenly Father plants His followers by rivers of water, providing us with the plentiful resources we need to be fruitful. (Steven Hight)

God fuels us for fruitfulness.

This is the Monday, October 13, 2014 devotional reading of Opening the Word.
Photo credit: "Leaves" by Pug50 used under CC BY 2.0 / Cropped.

Read Matthew 13:24-30
“Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn” (v. 30).
Travel back in time to that classroom, that subject, that teacher for whom you had to work the hardest. Whether your classmates wore poo- dle skirts and Elvis hairdos or bell bottoms and afros (or even something a bit more modern), chances are we all had that class — or maybe even that test, in particular — that was especially challenging. You skipped questions to come back to later. You stewed and chewed the eraser off your pencil. You figured and re-figured and searched your brain for the answer.
A few days later when the teacher handed the graded tests back, you dreaded and desired to see the result. Did you make the grade? Did you get enough right? What was that letter in red going to be?
Some people approach life that way. They believe there is a God and there is a heaven, and they hope that they get enough correct answers to pass the test. They do not expect a hundred percent but just hope that the good outweighs the bad.

The problem is Jesus did not allow for an in-between, good-enough result at the final judgment. There were wheat, and there were weeds. The all-knowing Judge sees which category our hearts fall into. (Ashlee Englund)

Are you ready to be gathered into His barn?

This is the Monday, October 6, 2014 devotional reading of Opening the Word.
Photo credit: "Frontier Classroom" by Corey Leopold used under CC BY 2.0 / Resized, cropped.