A Tree with Strong Roots

For the third week of February, the Dong Proverb Calendar had an entry that I find quite amazing: "A man with a kind heart lives a long life, a tree with strong roots can hardly be shaken." There are many great scriptural parallels to that proverb.

"Only the godly have deep roots" (Pr. 12:3). And "...like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season without fail" (Ps 1:3). The author of the book of Proverbs tells the reader in many places that following the Proverbs written in that book will lead to a long life (3:2, 3:16, 4:10, 22:4, 28:16, and more). And Psalm 15, listing the traits of a godly man, are very similar, right down to, "he who does these things will never be shaken."

Just as Romans 1 says, the word of God is within their hearts. Proverbs like this come when the Dong people see the obvious truth of lives well spent and lives wasted. When Dong Proverbs reflect the same godly traits as the Bible, I think it is an excellent opportunity to pray that more Dong people would see the truth, the truth revealed all around them, and eventually find the truth fully told in the scripture.

Father, there are so many Dong people who know at least a part of the truth. We pray that you would make the full truth, as told in scripture, available to them. As they read it, may its relation to what they have been taught to be good (as seen in this Dong proverb) only make easier to accept the truth of God and ultimately to find the salvation of their souls. May they find so much more than a long life, but rather find eternal life through Jesus Christ. May they "have life and have it to the full."