Clearing Out the Dead Wood
April 25, 2010
by Alan Cornett
One of the great things about our yard is that it has a lot of trees. I’ve discovered one of the frustrating things about our yard is that it has a lot of trees.
A tree crew descended on my yard this week to remove two of those trees. One passed from this life last summer, an Ash the victim disease. It looked strong and hearty, a good twenty feet tall. Another tree in the yard still looked very much alive, but with only a tenuous connection to the ground. Root rot had caused it to lean over toward my shed, which was saved only by the electrical box (!) that held the it up. Both trees have a future as firewood.
Some people have spiritual lives like those trees. A lifetime of spiritual focus has given them genuine growth. They seem to be towering figures of Christianity. But then something happens, a temptation, a life change. Last spring the Ash tree seemed fine at first. New leaves started, but then froze in immaturity. What the tree had done dozens of times before it was now unable to accomplish. It couldn’t push through, it gave up and it died. Had you looked at it the prior year, or five years ago, no one would have thought such a thing would happen. How many Christians can you recall thinking the same about? How many Christians have disappeared from God’s service—no longer living for the Lord—who you saw as living, thriving, active only last year, two years ago, five years ago? What happened? Can it happen to you?
The second tree seemed to be facing spring quite brightly. The leaves were coming out strong and green. They seemed unaware of any problem; however, the only reason there was any connection to the ground was because the tree was partially propped up by that electrical box. Not only that, but the tree had become a real danger. My storage shed (and pocketbook!) would suffer serious damage when that tree fell. We let the connection to our source of sustenance and strength decay and rot often without noticing it. We go on, oblivious to our impending fall, unaware that others have propped us up, unaware that we may do serious damage to others because of our lack of spiritual health. To glimpse at us everything seems fine, but in reality we are about to land with a thud.
Of the barren fig tree in the parable, Jesus said that the tree needed to be fertilized so that it might begin to yield fruit or else “Why should it use up the ground?” (Luke 13:6-9) We have to be aware of the health of our connection to our source of sustenance, Jesus. (John 15:5) We cannot rest on past spiritual accomplishments. We must stand for Christ until the end (Revelation 2:10). If we do not keep our spiritual focus and seek constant nourishment from the Lord we may be surprised one day to find ourselves no longer living for him.
And like the end the trees in my yard, our eternal future will not be what we desire. “Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire (Luke 3:9).”
Going For the Gold
March 2, 2010
by Alan Cornett
The Olympics have been everywhere over the past few weeks. If Team USA holds on to its medal count lead, it will be the first time in 80 years the US has won the medal race in a winter Olympics. It’s certainly hard not to feel pride when the national anthem is cued up and the gold medal athlete stands above everyone else in victory.
One of the reasons many who never watch sports otherwise seem to like the Olympics are all the human interest stories. People from around the world travel to compete, but to arrive at the games is not an easy task. Many have had to overcome unimaginable situations in order to prepare themselves to compete.
But to each one of these individuals the end result was worth it. For that one moment the attention of the world is upon them and their victory. Pain and sacrifice have to fade away from their minds as nothing. The nagging voices in their mind that predicted doom are vanquished.
Paul looked forward to that time of spiritual victory. He writes, “Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.” (2 Timothy 4:8) Now recall all that Paul had gone through in order to reach that point: “Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.” (2 Corinthians 11:24-27)
Talk about a human interest story!
Paul had sacrificed a life of assured rabbinical success and prestige. And for what? Beatings? Stonings? Humiliating execution? How many times do you think he heard the nagging voices of doubt and discouragement? But Paul was determined to “press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:14)
What is your human interest story? What is your sacrifice? What do your nagging voices of doubt tell you when the going is tough? Satan “is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44)—he will tell us anything to cause us to fail.
But Paul looked forward to a victory that was offered not only to him, but “to all who have loved His appearing.” Paul’s victory can be your victory, too. Think of that moment when the entirety of creation focuses on you as the Master says, “Enter into the joy of your master.” (Matthew 25:21). Whatever you sacrifice now will be worth it.
Picking Up Yardage
February 7, 2010
by Alan Cornett
More avocadoes are used over the weekend of the Super Bowl than any other time of the year. It’s a sensible choice—what better thing to have than guacamole as you watch your favorite team try to win the biggest game of the year?
We all love to see the big plays: kickoffs or interceptions returned for a touchdown, perhaps. But while they are exciting, that’s not the norm. Football games can be slow. In fact, a recent study showed that the average NFL football game had all of 11 minutes of action—for the whole game! It’s even worse when compared to the forty five minutes of advertising that were aired during last year’s Super Bowl.
Those big plays only happen as a result of practice, and very often as a result of an even plodding approach to moving the football. When you see a spectacular pass downfield or a runner cut through a massive hole in the defense you think, “Now why don’t they do that every time?” But there are likely plays upon plays that didn’t go anywhere that set up the situation to make the big play possible.
Sometimes our spiritual progress can be a bit like that. We all long for the big play—a sudden, new insight into a passage, making a contact to share the gospel, a sense of contentment in our lives. But we’ll never have that new insight without being a regular student of the Bible. The Bereans searched the Scripture daily (Acts 17:11) More people will show no interest in the gospel than will be eager to hear, but with persistence someone will listen. Paul was mocked at Athens, but some were eager to hear (Acts 17:32). We all deal with a lot of stress, sometimes leading to outright worry. While we all desire contentment and the “peace that passes understanding” it’s not automatic. It can be ours, but we have to be consistent in our prayer and trust. Paul even said he “learned” to be content (Philippians 4:4-13). We can learn, too, but not without running a lot of plays that don’t seem to go anywhere.
Progress is always slower than we like. We all want what we want…yesterday. But the mature football team knows that you can’t hurry, you can’t rush, you can’t achieve in moments what takes a series of plays, a quarter or an entire game to accomplish. Sometimes a team can get quickly behind, things go wrong and the inclination is to panic. But the wise team sticks to the game plan, runs the next play, even if that particular play picks up little yardage.
Satan may be trying to cause panic in your life to throw you off your spiritual game. There’s no doubt he’s trying to stop you from gaining spiritual yardage. But if you trust in God you’ll know that what you need to do is run the next play. God has drawn up the perfect way to advance to Him. Trusting in His guidance will guarantee your spiritual success.