A Lesson about Sin from a Tree Branch
A neighbor of ours recently had a couple of trees removed. Now that, in itself, is nothing unusual. We live in a neighborhood where most people keep their yards fairly neat, so having trees worked on is rather common. However, what was left behind after the removal helped my mind formulate a reminder that I needed.
The trees that were removed were evergreens (I think they were some type of cypress, but I’m not too good at that type of thing). There were two of them, and they were quite overgrown, as their branches covered a large section of the road. I would presume that was the main reason they were taken down, but there may have been more.
You see, after the trees were removed, I was walking by that area and something caught my eye. It was a long branch that also reached out into the road, but it was no longer a cypress branch. It was the extended branch of a dogwood tree.
But I want you to notice: the large portion of the branch that had been entangled through those evergreens is basically bare. While it is alive, it is almost completely devoid of signs of life. However, the part out nearest the end–that was through the other side of the cypress trees–is alive and well, with plenty of leaves. It is drooping, but it is fine.
What did that remind me of? It reminded me of how many people view sin versus how sin actually is affecting them. When they are going through a sinful lifestyle, they may feel alive, but the sin is blocking the Son and they are not getting the life they so much need. They are existing, but they are not fruitful.
However, when the sin is removed, there are signs of life. There may still be a bit of a droop (consequences, broken relationships, financial loss, lost opportunities), but life shines through in that person’s life. There is a beauty to this new person that is unexplainable without Jesus.
The bare part, where sin reigned, is part of their story, but, praise God, it is not the end of their story. The end is far more beautiful.
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AUTHOR: Adam Faughn
