One day, there was a man planted a tree. He weeded,
fertilized, and sprayed, but the tree remained small and scrawny. No growth, no
blossom, no fruit. Even pruning failed to stimulate growth. He already
consulted with gardening experts, but they couldn’t help him. After several
years, the tree finally died. When he pulled the tree from the ground, he
discovered the roots hadn’t spread into the surrounding soil. The tree never
reached its potential.
The illustration above can depict our spiritual growth with
God. God has already given the best things around us: friends, family, spouse, other
believers, to fertilize our soul, to help us grow day by day so someday we can
be the same as Christ image. But how many times we often ignore them? How many
times we only read Bible verses but they couldn’t change our heart? How many
times we are not being thankful for all that He gives? How many times we waste
the time doing unfruitful activities while there are so many opportunities that
God gives to help us develop our talent, to bring His glory?
Just as the best
fertilizer couldn’t determine the tree good or bad, so does our environment. To
be placed in the right environment doesn’t mean we are good, if we don’t have
will to change our heart to be shaped by Him. What if someday when God comes and
discover that we are not firmly rooted?
Matthew 15:13 Every plant that My heavenly Father has not
planted will be pulled up by the roots.
The illustration is cited from “One Year Alone with God, Ava
Pennington”
