The Heart of the Palm
by Kim Larsen
Psalm 92:12, “The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.”
The palm is a quintessential image of a tropical paradise. I’ve had the privilege to vacation a couple of times in a tropical destination. You know that you’ve made it when the palms are waving in the warm breeze! The palm also supplies fruit that is not only tasty and life sustaining but also has medicinal properties
The most important fact I think about Palm trees is from the perspective of how resilient they are. I worked in Galveston Texas for several years and saw firsthand how far they can bend and not break. My family survived hurricane Alicia in 1983. We had just moved to Texas at the end of May and had our first experience with a hurricane in August. She was a category 3 hurricane with sustained winds of 125 mph. What an experience! The palms weathered the storm losing a few branches, but they have an amazing ability to bend and not break
The palm also can be beaten by the scorching sun, and the fierce sandstorms standing green and flourishing and fruitful in the midst of the desert. The tree of the desert is a symbol of what God means the life of His children in the world to be. They are to guide weary souls, full of unrest and ready to perish in the desert of sin, to the living water. The Christian is to be resilient as a bending palm in a storm, roots deep and strong
There is a part of the palm that is used in some recipes called the heart of palm. I stumbled across this one time in a salad that I was making. I’d never heard of it, but sure enough it came in a jar at Cub Foods! The palm tree is sacrificed for this delicacy. It cannot live after the heart of palm is harvested. In fact as many as 100 species of palm trees are endangered because of this harvesting of the tree that cannot be regrown
God wants our whole heart. He wants to use us to lead others to the kingdom, are we willing to surrender all? Lord help us to grow up to be like palm trees. To grow where we are planted, bending but not breaking, our roots deep and strong drinking from the water of life. Providing what is needed to others, giving nourishment, shade and if need be our life in Jesus name.
The Bible In Your Hand 