Two Trees

In the room where I have my desk and computer, to my immediate right, right now, there are two trees. The one of the left is an imitation tree that my wife picked up real cheap at a garage sale. The one to its right, is a real tree---well, a plant, anyway, I am not sure if classifies to be a real tree as one might know it. I'm not a horticulturist, arborist, botanist, dendrologist or even a naturalist, so I know little about trees. This real 'one' in this room could be of any variety of a tree or plant or shrub, I don't know, but it LOOKS LIKE a small tree, so I am going to refer to it as one, When we first bought the real tree, it was 8 feet tall, a very vibrant green, and having hundreds of leaves it was very 'bushy', if you know what I mean. A very strong-looking tree. The imitation, or fake, tree, also looks a lot like a tree, and when we bought it, it was also very bushy. Over time ( I guess we have had both trees about 5 months or so), I have noticed some changes. And all those changes have occurred in the real tree. While the fake tree has stood there and still looks like a tree, the real tree has been steadily deteriorating to the point now it is an 8 foot 'vine' with a minimum number of leaves on it. Hence, a lesson. :-)

The fake tree is like a pretend Christian. One which goes to services on Sundays, and an occasional midweek, but that is all. The pretend Christian looks the part---very bushy---yet in reality is dead. Neither produce anything. No fruits. No leaves. No aroma. No oxygen (as you know a real tree produces oxygen and a living person uses it). The fake tree and Christian do not grow. They just stand there and try to look pretty. Other than a decoration in my room or one in a church pew or seat, they are not much good for anything else (spiritually speaking of course, as far as the pretend Christian is concerned). On the other hand, a real tree, as like a real Christian, has the potential to grow, produce fruit or leaves and emanate fragrant aromas. Other than being a decoration, they can become useful in a lot of ways.

That all sounds, to me, like a good analogy. But the problem is, as far as my real tree, it has not been very 'fruitful'. It has not grown. Its leaves are falling off much faster than new buds appear. The causes for this tree's failures could be many. Lack of light. Lack of food. Lack of water. In the wrong location. Too much heat. Not enough heat. And so on and so on. The causes for a real Christian who is not bearing fruit, can also be caused by those same environments. If a Christian's light does not shine (and you all know what I am talking about), he or she might not grow. If a Christian's source of food (the Bible) is not sufficient, growth can be very slow. If the 'stream of water' which bypasses a Christian and he or she does not reach out to it (and of course I am referring to the steady stream of people God puts in our path), growth may not occur (see Jeremiah 17:8). If a Christian's main location is the living room sofa, one couldn't expect much growth either. If things get 'hot' in church, and negative attitudes develop--not much growth is possible. And if a Christian's desire to do God's work gets colder and colder, he or she cannot expect to grow. Much like my real tree, these real Christians can wither and even die.

I paint a pretty bleak picture of a real Christian who is not doing God's work. We all know it is not by works we are saved, but by Grace (e.g. - Ephesians 2:5). ----INSERT--no extra charge----do you recall my lesson on Latin? Well, if so, you might know that we just used Latin in this lesson: e.g.. What does it mean? Exempli Gratia, or 'for example', in English. END INSERT---- But we also know what James tells us about faith, grace and works. I can look at my real tree right now and see evidence of that Grace as well. Even though it is under (or over) watered, lacks or has too much food, not enough light, is in the wrong location, is too hot or too cold, even if all those things can describe my real tree, it still has produced some new leaves. New life. It hasn't given up, and God hasn't given up on it. The same goes for real Christians. Adversities and temptations will always be in their lives. But because of God's great Grace, even a real Christian who is doing terribly spiritually, can still grow. Albeit (no, this is not Latin, but actually an English word) that growth may be very slow, God forgives and still allows chances for improvement. If you recall one of the stories of Jesus about one of the many fig trees discussed in the Bible, in Luke 13:6, He gave the owner of the vineyard three years to improve that tree so it would produce fruit. Even though Grace is ever abundant, we all know of the possibility of falling from the Grace (many Scriptures say this bluntly as well as many others which hint at it openly). I would not want to test God's resolve by being a non-productive 'fig tree', and face the potential of being cut down and thrown into 'the fire'.

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.

But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.

He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. (Psalms 1:1-3)