The sun was a strange hue of orange or mucky yellow as it descended this evening. The cloud was in wisps and so it kept obscuring its sunlight. The picture shows a tree log covered in moss and fungi, once a great oak is now withered and is a sad reflection of what it used to be.
It was a funny old day. Some days I wonder how on earth can I be doing God’s work. Listening to God in a loud corridor or other places. But God’s revelation seems to come in the quiet places, or the times you are least expecting it. I feel the more I give to God, the more He can do with me, but I never feel like I am giving enough.
I have been on a journey wanting to be with God, but at times I have felt I have been abandoning my family. They have been there getting on with life. Getting on with the busy little schedule that we set ourselves.
The tree has given its all to the earth. Perhaps it was chopped down either for safety or for use. A short distance away from the tree is a place were all this wood would have been used to create things, tent poles, chairs, frames and many more valuable things. The stump is all that is left and that is slowly getting eaten away by the moss and fungi.
“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.
Perhaps the Jewish and Roman leaders were gloating as it drew near to Jesus’ arrest thinking that they had finally got him. Thinking that this rebel would soon decay. But no where does it say that Jesus did not go willingly. It is amazing that John 14 is just after Jesus said Judas would betray him, Peter would deny him and He would be tortured and put to death between two sinners.
What was the response of Jesus;
“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.
But Jesus was sure that he was not going to be staying dead for long as He assured them that He was coming back. Every other Holy person in history has made followers and then died. Jesus made followers, died and then came back to life to train his followers further and provide proof that He was the unique Son of God, and God incarnate. No other religion can claim that. He was not leaving them as orphans.
The tree has played its part and is crumbling in decay to feed the ground. Similarly Jesus died and his blood fed the ground to pay the price for all who will accept the gift. The tree has shed many seeds in its life and this life will sprout up new creating many more trees that will combine to be a forest.
Also the sun will be reborn on the next day as we await the joyous resurrection on Easter Sunday and Jesus’ victorious return on the final day.
Amen
with blessings
Graham
365 Exhortations 