Those who are planted in the house of the Lord
Shall flourish in the courts of our God. Psalm 92:13

Psalm 92 is one of my favorite psalms. I love God’s promise that the righteous will flourish like palm trees even to old age. Since I am now there, older at least and, hopefully with God’s grace more righteous in Christ, it tells me that every age can flourish and bear fruit. Flourish is an old fashioned, King James kind of word. Because the psalmist uses it three times, it must be note worthy. Today we might say prosper but flourish means “to thrive, be luxuriant, healthy and vigorous.” Of course I want that! Who wouldn’t?

While pondering this Scripture, I heard a question. “Are you really planted in the house of the Lord?” It was gently asked, but it stung. “Am I really planted in the house of the Lord?”

I’ve been in our church for almost 20 years. Unquestionably, God brought me here. God chose this particular “house of the Lord” for His divine reasons and I’ve remained through many church transitions and personal relationships. I’ve been both blessed and hurt by our church family, but through growth and grief, I’ve stayed, considering myself to be a loyal, faithful member of the house. And yet…

When the Holy Spirit pokes you with a question like that, it’s to strip away illusions. It caused me to look more honestly about where I’m planted in our church. A dear friend likes to say, “as in the natural, so in the supernatural.” For example, ask any gardener about the differences between, say tomato plants, growing directly in rich garden soil versus those growing in a container. Which one needs more babying, more attention, watering, feeding and protection? Which one has greater ability to assimilate nutrients? Which one is the stronger, more flourishing plant at the end of summer? It’s an apt analogy for how Christians may be planted in the church, but never “growing strong as cedars in Lebanon.”

Psalm 92 challenged me. What about you? Planted or potted? Are you deeply rooted in the soils of your local church or are you like me sometimes, in my own little cache pot, growing in my own soil mix, ready to move elsewhere if church doesn’t quite measure up to my standards? To flourish means to “to grow rooted.” If potted, our spiritual roots are confined to the space we occupy and like a root -bound garden plant, we might grow but we’ll never flourish. If our hearts’ are confined inside a planter decorating church ground, we’ll grow guarded hearts, not Christ’s. How can we follow Jesus’ call to preach the Gospel and love others, if we stay pot bound?

Jesus taught the disciples that He is the vine and we are branches.
I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5

Church members are not to be separate vines growing in self- watering containers. In fact, Jesus tells something radically different. Disciples flourish only in Jesus because then the Father prunes us to bear much fruit. A potted plant has only its own life to draw upon. Our roots are in Christ and Christ alone.

So I ask. Are you growing in a pretty container or are you unconditionally, if sometimes messily, planted in the local house of the Lord? If potted not planted, allow Holy spirit to shatter the clay and replant you firmly in the good soil of your church.