Daily Devotional
Nurturing the Olive Plants

June 12, 2025

Ponder This

If you lived in the Middle East, you’d understand why the Psalmist described a child as an olive plant. An olive plant needs to be cultivated and cared for until it becomes an olive tree. A mature olive tree is green, beautiful, productive, valuable, and very stable.

There are olive trees in the Garden of Gethsemane that some believe are two thousand years old and may have been there when Jesus Christ prayed in that garden. When nurtured, an olive tree’s impact spans across generations. God’s Word says children are like olive plants around your table. An olive plant, like any fragile plant, needs to be cared for; it needs to be nurtured. This is the tenderness and intentionality we need to exercise in caring for our children. The days fly by, and we need to be thoughtful about the ways we are raising them in God’s likeness so that they will grow into mature and steady trees for His glory.

• What are some ways you are pouring into the next generation now? What are some ways you can be intentional about your time so you can nurture others in the things of God?
• How have you been nurtured and raised up in the things of God? Where did you miss out on that? How did those experiences impact you?

Practice This

Plan a meal or a visit with someone in the next generation. Ask how you can support that person in walking with Jesus.