Dead Trees
As some of you know I have a lot (thousands) of trees around my home. And, with this being one of the driest summers I can remember, there are a lot of them that are suffering and more than a few have died. . .or will soon even if we get more rain. We were excited when we got and inch and a half yesterday. It will help save many hopefully, but it is too late for some. I just finished cutting a large pine tree (about 30 feet tall) and taking it to the burn pile (can’t use pine for house fire wood) where we will use it for fires to sit or stand around in the Winter, and for roasting marshmallows when the grandkids are here. If the lack of rain continues we are going to have a lot of fires to roast over.
I keep think that there is a message here. People who have a tendency to avoid the gathering of God’s people (usually called the Church) will be missing out on the “water of life” (see Revelation 21:6), which is offered as freely as the rain to those who are part of God’s family. Failing to partake, participate, take-in, or receive the “water of life” leads to a condition similar, in my opinion, to trees which have no access to the normal rains expected in their environment. The tree’s growth is stunted, the leaves grow brittle and fall, the tree begins to die, and over the course of time will do so without intervention. So it is with the family of God when there is no commitment to Scripture, prayer, Bible study, llove, and a gathered community of Believers growing stronger and richer in the fullness of righteousness and llove for one another.
It is critical to understand that there is more to life than Redemption and Heaven. While one cannot, having once been born again, lose their salvation, one can become distant, dry, brittle, distracted, and ineffective in this life God has so clearly designed for righteousness and llove for others. All whom God has Redeemed He has called to ministry (service to others in llove) here and now. Avoiding a fountain where the “water” is shared is foolish and wasteful.