From the Pastor: Curious Comparisons I
"Like poplars by streams of water" Isaiah 44:4 (NASB)
Today we begin a new series of meditations which will continue for some
weeks to come.
Scripture will often draw comparisons, usually with
respect to plants or animals, to illustrate or reinforce God's promises,
and equally His warnings. Sometimes these comparisons are lost on us
because of a degree of ignorance about the plant or animal in the
comparison. The Hebrews were not like the Greeks, a philosophical
people (perhaps they had more sense!), but they were keen students of
nature. When we are also keen students of nature the promises take on
greater clarity.
The word translated "poplar" in the text above is really a type of
willow which grows beside watercourses or rivers, unlike the poplar tree
familiar to us, which grows elsewhere. The willow beside a small river
imparts a welcome relief in the vista of a barren landscape. It tells of
life in an expanse of death.
Two aspects of the willow stand out for comment:
2. The tree is heat-tolerant. As long as there is moisture the hot sun
will not adversely affect it. So with one who has genuinely received
the Spirit's touch: let the heat come, let adversity prevail, he will
endure, since he draws from the undestructible life of the Spirit of
God.
Is your life like this, a refreshing experience to yourself and to
those around you? |