Are you an Olive Tree?

In a world gone awry, what's a Christian to do?  Each morning as I watch the news, my doubting heart is sent into confession on behalf of the society in which I live.  I sit with my coffee begging the Lord to forgive our once Judeo-Christian nation as it plummets toward Sodom & Gomorrah:  Disrespectful children humored, moral indecency run amuck, same sex marriage not just privately tolerated but touted as an accepted option, conspicuous narcissism, arrogance admired as confidence; the list goes on and on. So, is God blind to this downward spiral?  See for yourself.  Speaking of men who "love their evil more than good," the Psalmist says "Don't you realize God's justice continues forever?  God will strike you down once and for all.  He will pull you from your home and uproot you from the land of the living. The righteous will see it and be amazed saying, 'See the man who would not make God his refuge but trusted in the abundance of his riches and sought refuge in his own destruction'" (Psalm 52 1,3,5-7 part)!

Amidst this impending justice, what are Christians to do?  I say let's be olive trees:  "But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever.  I will thank you forever, because you have done it.  I will wait for your name in the presence of the godly, for it is good" (Psalm 52:8-9, emphasis mine).

And what is the significance of the olive tree?  No matter what the conditions: hot, dry, cold, wet, rocky, or sandy, the evergreen olive tree will live and produce fruit. It is said that you can never kill an olive tree. Even when cut down or burned, new shoots will emerge from its roots. Psalm 25 reminds us that no matter the conditions of life (nor the downward spiral of our society), we should remain steadfast as the olive tree in the presence of God - evergreen (faithful) and bearing fruit (Copyright © 2014, PRAY 4 ZION, NPO 056-341).