December 4, 2017
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Consider the work of God: for who can make that straight, which he hath made crooked? – Ecclesiastes 7:13
Cultured
evergreens were planted as far as the eye could see, seemingly waiting
for someone to come by and choose them for Christmas trees. There were
firs and gallant nobles on this tree farm our family visited
several years ago. After looking through what felt like the whole
forest, a perfect
tree was finally found and cut down. When we brought it into the
house we realized once again how wonderfully shaped it was and how tall
and straight
it looked.
Soon we set it
carefully in a giant tree stand to prepare it for decorating. We stood
back and looked at its outstretched arms, eagerly waiting adorning.
It was then we noticed something was not right: our beautiful
tree seemed to be leaning. It looked crooked at the base. We all worked
at turning
it and twisting its enormous trunk so it would stand up tall and
straight, but the tree refused to cooperate. After endless tips and
turns, we
came to the conclusion that the bottom of the tree would have to
be re-cut to correct the problem. We could have chosen to just leave it
crooked,
but then every time we saw it we would know something was wrong,
and we would probably worry about it falling, as well. So, we evened
the tree’s
base and placed it back in the stand. Instantly we noticed the
difference. It was perfectly straight!
Once the tree had been
corrected, it looked so much better. I felt more at peace, no longer
worrying about it tipping over. It reminded me of how good
we feel when we take care of a spiritual problem that God brings
to our attention. As Christians, it is important that there is no
“crookedness”
in our daily living—no bitterness or resentment in our hearts,
and no pride or selfishness in our attitudes. We need to have
testimonies
that are upright and straight.
If we try to ignore a
problem that God has brought to our attention, we will find that the
crooked way is full of pitfalls. When our spiritual lives
are awry, it is harder to pray and receive answers from God. Our
communication with Him, which is our source of strength and comfort, is
hindered.
This cannot be fixed by looking at the situation from another
angle; the solution is to ask God to take care of the problem at its
root. He is
the only One who can make everything in our hearts perfectly
straight, and we feel so much better when He does!
This Christmas season,
when we see trees standing straight and tall, let’s remember to check
our spiritual standing. We want to make sure our hearts
are beautifully upright and straight, that we might bring glory
to His name.
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