Articles From Our Bulletins
It's Still Made of Wood...
When we lived in Jacksonville, Texas, we had a huge native Pecan tree in our front yard. We loved that tree and the shade it provided- the squirrels did too, though certainly for additional reasons. Unfortunately, old age and several successive years of drought took their toll, and it began to slowly die from the top down. Hopes that it might recover after ample rains finally replenished the water table soon faded as more and more of its upper reaches gradually lost leaves and then limbs. When the two largest and longest branches that remained relatively healthy were the ones extending over our living room, I was finally forced to the decision to take it down.
Lying sprawled across the lawn, the giant seemed even bigger…. and it was- 32 inches across the stump at waist high. But the good news was that it would supply our fireplace for a long time! For anyone who has ever split firewood, a block that is wider (32 inches) than it is long (I cut ours about 22 to 24 inches) is awfully hard to handle. But it wasn’t just the size that made these particular blocks difficult to split into smaller and more manageable pieces. Over the years of its lifetime, many lower limbs had been trimmed away, and the outer bark (and several inches of tree!) had grown over them- which makes the wood much harder to split. Then too, it appeared that the tree had endured a hard life. The grain was gnarled, twisted, and just plain mangled and matted. Splitting a single block took all that a gas-powered hydraulic splitter, two or three additional hand-driven log wedges, and a fellow with a maul that has split firewood all his life could muster. Each of the massive blocks took me over an hour of intense labor to get down to fireplace-ready size…and yielded as many as 32 sticks of good-sized pieces! My good wife, upon seeing my sweat-soaked clothes and completely exhausted expression, and patiently listening to and noting as I explained and pointed out how this was the most gnarly, twisted, and difficult firewood I had ever split, simply replied, “Well, it’s still made of wood, so burn it.”
Though perhaps less than sympathetic to the difficulties of my labor, she was right- no matter how much we loved the tree, or how difficult it was to get down and processed, in the end it was still just firewood destined for the fireplace. From this, a couple of lessons emerged…
Physical things, no matter how much we love and become attached to them, are destined for the fire. “…. and the earth and its works will be burned up,” 2Peter 3:10. While this passage obviously references the end of time, ALL physical things have a limited lifespan. Many perish with using, and others simply reach the limits of their existence. The lesson is not one of disposability as much as priority. Through destruction- by “natural disasters” or whether “moth or rust destroys” or “thieves break in and steal” (cf. Matthew 6:19), we are forced to prioritize what’s really important- physical things matter little and are but temporary, while spiritual things are supreme and eternally important, Matthew 6:20.
Therefore, our labors toward the attainment and preservation of physical things are in vain. The rich fool had grand plans to “tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods” so that he might have “many goods laid up for many years to come” and could then take his ease to “eat, drink, and be merry,” Luke 12:18-19. But there was a problem with permanence regarding these physical things- not even life itself will last, “You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?” Luke 12:20. Our efforts toward preserving physical things- whether possessions or life itself, all come to naught, regardless of our efforts to the contrary. While this is discouraging to some who fail to realize that “not even when one has an abundance, does his life consist in his possessions” (Luke 12:15), it allows everyone the opportunity to see the advantages of being “rich toward God” rather than laying up “treasure for himself,” Luke 12:21.
All lives are valuable because they’re all made of souls that are precious to God, no matter how hardened, twisted, gnarly, and mangled they’ve been made by “life.” That Pecan tree, while beautiful and majestic on the outside, was horribly scarred on the inside. Life can be, and often is, the same. Its difficulties can also leave us hardened, twisted, gnarled, and mangled on the inside regardless of the foliage, flowers, or fruit we portend on the façade. But the true beauty of these things is that although others may disregard, discount, and discard us because of a perceived lack of value to them, God is different. He created us, gave us life, and endowed us with an eternal soul- a precious and valued commodity immune to depreciation or decay. Though our souls can be lost or damaged, they can always be regained and repaired by the restorative power of Jesus Christ, Luke 19:10; Acts 4:12. As long as we are still residents of this world by the breath of life (cf. James 2:26), our souls can be reclaimed and refitted for glory.
It’s not too late. We CAN change our perspectives, priorities, and purpose. “Therefore, if a man cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work,” 2Timothy 2:21. Otherwise and in a much less admirable way, like that Pecan tree, we’ll just wind up being burned, “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch, and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned,” John 15:6.
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