“Cut that thing down, p-l-e-a-s-e!” I begged. “It’s ugly. It needs to go.”
But my husband never did cut it down. And so it remained.
Out of the ground sprouted this scraggly, scrawny, little pine twig that must have dropped as a seed from its forefather. It looked just like the Christmas tree in the Charlie Brown cartoon classic and so it got its name, the Charlie Brown tree.
Instead of destroying this diminutive sapling in its infancy, and since hubby wouldn’t cut it down, we left it alone to do what it was created to do…be a testament to its Creator.
Year after year, it stood in our backyard beside its progenitor, a towering evergreen that dwarfed its Lilliputian descendant. And year after year, that puny thing struggled to grow. Standing staunch to face the sun, rain, wind, heat, snow, and storms, it faced all the elements, yet protected in the shadow of its forefather. It eventually matured into a beautiful, sprawling pine of 40 feet…and still growing.
Occasionally, aren’t we this way with baby Christians? So ready to chop down God’s little seedlings of faith, so ready to give up on them as they struggle to grow, mature, and learn. Just because they don’t have all the branches of knowledge, the beautiful foliage of experience we do, or the seeds of future Christian descendants growing in their shadows, we are ready to dismiss them.
However, if we become the staunch support of strength, protecting them in our shadow and nourishing them with our love, they can grow to be a true testament to their Creator, living the life God intended for them.
~Lord, may I never dismiss one of Your children in his or her infancy of faith. May I be a true example of Your love, care, and strength to the one who needs it. Amen!
***Hope you don’t mind. I dusted off an oldie, my seventh ever post.
Hooking up with…
Thursdays…
Fridays…
Sundays…
