Have you ever thought, “When I read the Word, I don’t feel like I get anything out of it”? You want immediate gratification because you want a good return on investment. God says you do, but you won’t always see the return immediately.

Chinese bamboo spends four years without showing a sign of growth above the soil, nothing you can see anyway. During that time, it’s putting down deep roots. In the fifth year, the growth above the soil is explosive. In 30 days, it can grow 90 feet! The first four years were not worthless but were preparation for future explosive growth! That’s what it’s like when you read God’s Word. You don’t always see it, but the growth is happening.

Psalm 1 says, “Blessed is the one … whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night” (verses 1,2). Meditate means “to turn it over in your mind over and over.” The word has the idea of “murmur” behind it. God wants you to get lost in his Word and to delight in it. What will happen when you do? 

Psalm 1 continues, “That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers” (verse 3). Like a strong tree that can weather storms, the one in the Word will have endurance to meet life’s challenges. Be the tree!