Wednesday, October 04, 2006

 

TREE TALK

F O O D F O R T H O U G H T
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TREE TALK
Contributed by Diane Check
Oct 4, 2006

I was taking a beautiful prayer walk this morning with God and came
across two blossoming pear trees. The warm weather had produced an
abundance of flowers on these trees. One of the trees stood tall; it
had been planted many years ago. As I drew closer to it, I noticed
that the trunk was warped and it had lost a branch or two during
storms that have passed by for many years. The branches spread out
long and tall and the strong roots were punching through the ground,
straining for more space and sunlight. I pinched off one of the
blossoms from this aged tree and looked closely at it. It was filled
with such amazing beauty and glory. Only God can make something so
lovely. It was delicate, yet had a strong branch still attached to
it. It had a sweet, but not overpowering aroma.


I held onto this little flower and continued on my walk. I then came
across another flowering pear tree, but this one was different. It
was just planted last year because a storm had destroyed a previous
one. As I walked closer to this one, I noticed a few new things. It
was still being propped up with support strings and stakes embedded
in the ground, and the trunk of the tree was smooth and not scarred.
It also had a protective layer of fertilizer piled over the roots
where they started to grow into the ground as a way of protecting the
tenderness and the vulnerability of this young life. And, although
there were only a few branches on this flowering tree, it too reached
high to the heavens and produced the exact same flower that the older
and greater tree did.


I gloried in looking at these trees and realized that we, as
Christians, resemble these trees so much. Some of us are matured
Christians, weathered by storms and have had our share of branches
torn away. But our roots are strong and we are able to withstand each
season God places in our path, producing amazing fruit (or in this
case, beautiful blossoms) each day. And, as these strong
Christian "trees", we need to come alongside the young, tender new
trees and help them to grow in the Lord. We can be there to support
them in prayer, teaching, guiding and offering friendship, just like
the stakes & string I saw today. We can help feed them with the
goodness of the Word of God and the love of Christ, just as the
fertilizer was helping the young budding tree I saw. And, we can
encourage them to seek the sunlight and to let this light produce a
greater faithfulness in our Lord.


But the greatest reminder of God's mercy and grace that I witnessed
this morning, was the fact that each tree's flowers looked exactly
alike not more beautiful than each other, not larger or greater than
one the other, nor with a sweeter aroma than the other. This is God's
plan for us. Whether we are mature in Christ or new baby Christians,
we need to stand together and encourage each other daily to grow,
mature, learn, seek and, of course, to BLOSSOM!


These trees reminded me of Lamentations 3:22: "Because of the LORD's
great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They
are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."


Be blessed today and look around you for a young "tree" to come
beside and to nurture. God loves each of us and we can delight in
knowing that!


Contributed by Diane Check: calvarycheck@comcast.net Diane has
enjoyed writing short morning "thoughts for the day" for associates
at her insurance company for the past few years. She lives in
Doylestown, Pennsylvania, with her husband and son. She is currently
working on her first prayer devotional.



PRAYER
"We love you, O our God; and we desire to love you more and more. Grant to us that we may love you as much as we desire, and as much as we ought. O dearest friend, who has so loved and saved us, the thought of whom is so sweet and always growing sweeter, come with Christ and dwell in our hearts; that you keep a watch over our lips, our steps, our deeds, and we shall not need to be anxious either for our souls or our bodies. Give us love, sweetest of all gifts, which knows no enemy. Give us in our hearts pure love, born of your love to us, that we may love others as you love us. O most loving Father of Jesus Christ, from whom flows all love, let our hearts, frozen in sin, cold to you and cold to others, be warmed by this divine fire. So help and bless us in your Son." (Prayer of Anselm, 12th century)





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