Well, it SEEMS like we have endured the rainy season! It’s actually been a bit too dry as of late. A few weeks ago while we were still in that totally drenched state, I jumped on my lawnmower to mow my lawn because it had finally dried out enough. After I had finished the front, I moved to the backyard, but when I drove around my house after finishing, something in my front yard didn’t look quite right. We have a landscaped planter area in our front yard filled with mulch that holds several mature, large trees… and one of them was leaning at a 45 degree angle right across my driveway and over my wife’s car.
A closer inspection revealed the problem… the ground was so saturated with water that the roots were pulling right up out of the muddy ground, no longer able to support the weight of the tree. There was only one option… it had to come down. So, I grabbed my chainsaw and dropped it right then and there… uh… after I moved Lauri’s car. Two hours later the tree was cut into firewood, the branches hauled away and the leaves raked up – you would never have known it was there except for the stump cut off at ground level.
You know, after that tree was cut down, it really wasn’t good for anything other than firewood. It wasn’t the type of wood that you would want to dry and make into lumber for anything… it was just an old locust tree. Once it was damaged beyond salvaging, it was just fit for the woodburner.
Jesus once said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.” John 14:5-6 That old tree in my front yard reminded me of the importance of remaining grounded in my faith in Jesus. Even as I limbed it and cut it into firewood, I was asking Jesus to help me to remain firmly in Him — so that I can be a fruit bearer… not a woodburner. May God enable us all to leave a legacy that is reflected in Kingdom Fruit and not in a ground level stump – after all, the world already has plenty of stumps.
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