Written by Jonathan Melton
Psalm 92:11-12 (NRSV) The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, and shall spread abroad like a cedar of Lebanon. Those who are planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God.
Psalm 92 returns to the image with which Psalm 1 begins: a tree that flourishes. A mentor reminds me that flourishing is the standard for life in the kingdom: not surviving, but flourishing; not merely existing, but growing in healthy, vigorous ways.
To move toward this type of flourishing, my mentor suggests that Christians seek to engage the life of faith on local, national, and international levels. To forfeit any of these, she says, is to settle for less than the flourishing for which we are made.
Jesus affirms flourishing as a standard for his disciples with his promise of abundant life. Moreover, Jesus clarifies the character of those who participate in the abundant life he comes to give: Those who lay down their lives for others do not think of themselves as demeaned or diminished. We flourish. We are rooted in and bear the fruit of Christ’s love.
Such character comes as a gift to those who are planted in the abundance of the crucified and risen Christ. May we sing his praise with gladness and not fear to follow in his footsteps.
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