ARE YOU A TREE OR A POST?

Bulletins

Tommy Thornhill
11/10/24 - General

This question may seem strange to you, but there is a good lesson to be learned in the answer. As a young man my family maintained a small herd of cows. One of my brothers and I milked about four of them each day for milk, but we also raised a few for beef. We kept these cows in a fenced in pasture. From time to time some of the posts holding up the fence had to be replaced because they were rotten. They would fall over and cause the fence to sag where the cows could get out. This was a source of aggravation to me, since I had to round up the cows that got out, and then fix the fence. This required both time and work. You know how kids enjoy such things. I sometimes wished the posts would be like the trees so they wouldn’t have to be replaced.

What made the difference? Think! Plant a post and a tree in the ground side by side. At the beginning the tree is small, slender and easily bent or broken. The post, on the other hand, is large, solid and strong. It is hard to move and will support a fence.

But then the forces of nature take over. The tree begins to grow little by little, gradually becoming bigger and stronger. In a few years it stands tall and sturdy, while the post planted at the same time has rotted and fallen down.

What made the difference between the tree and the post? One was dead and the other was alive. The tree, being alive, continued to develop and mature. That is why it got stronger with time. On the other hand, the post was dead, and the ravages of time caused it to become weaker until it collapsed.

Now, the application. What about those of us who claim to be Christians? Are we like the tree or the post? If our religious life is dead, like the post, then we will surely grow weaker year by year, until we finally fall away. But, if we are truly alive in Christ, then the passing years will see us grow stronger and more mature than in the beginning.

As Christians we have been made alive by the regenerating power of the blood of Christ (Titus 3:5). Afterward, real spiritual life in us is maintained by fellowship with God, Christ and the Holy Spirit (1 John 1:1-7).

(Taken from Search for Truth, edited by Wayne Walker)