Tag Archives: tree

Look Out!

mushrooms

There have been these clusters of orange mushrooms growing at the bases of trees in and around my yard in the past month, and a wise biologist I know identified them as Jack-o’-Lantern mushrooms that form on wood near the bottoms of trees in the Midwest in the summer and fall. While these mushrooms are pretty to look at, they are actually poisonous.

I am reminded of the fruit growing on the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden of Eden. The Bible says that Eve considered the fruit “good for food” and “a delight to the eyes” (Genesis 3:6). So “she took of its fruit and ate” (Genesis 3:6). The eating of the fruit proved to be deadly to her and to Adam, who also ate, because it introduced sin into the world, and “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). Like the mushrooms by my tree, the fruit was pretty but poisonous, and we wish we could have been there in the Garden of Eden to say to Eve, “Look out! Don’t eat that!”

We might consider ourselves “oaks of righteousness,“ but things that are pretty but poisonous to our souls are still trying to entice us into turning away from God. As St. Peter tells us, “Be watchful.” (1 Peter 5:8). In other words, “Look out!” Don’t let anything come between you and God.

Fall Leaves

leaves

We are in the midst of the fall season now, and that can only mean the changing of the leaves has begun (in Midwest climes, anyway). I never cease to be amazed at the variety and vibrancy of the colors of the orange, red, yellow and brown hues that appear from once-green foliage. There are even bus tours to areas of the country where the fall leaves are known to be the most beautiful.

The sad thing, of course, is that the turning of the leaves means the leaves will soon be falling off their branches and crumbling on the ground.

I think of the words of Jesus, when he said, “Look at the fig tree, and all the trees; as soon as they come out in leaf, you see for yourselves and know that the summer is already near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near“ (Luke 21:29-31).

While he said this in spring, the reverse is true in the fall. The changing of the leaves is a reminder to us as Christians that “our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed” (Romans 13:11). The Last Day is a season closer for us when we see the leaves fall, and that leaves us with increasing joy!

Oaks of Righteousness

oak

They may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified. —Isaiah 61:3

Oaks were the main trees of Israel’s natural groves and forests. The three species which grow there have in common their strong and hard wood and all attain a great height and reach a very old age. The Hebrew name, allon, even means strong. So it is no wonder then that Isaiah uses the imagery of oak trees to symbolize those who are strong in the Lord.

Besides being strong, oak trees also rise up to the sky. Oak trees branch out to provide shade for those who need shelter from danger. And oak trees expand with a new ring of growth each year.

In much the same way, people who are oaks of righteousness are drawn closer to heaven through the Holy Spirit. Oaks of righteousness protect others from the evils of this world by the power of God. And oaks of righteousness continue to mature in their faith in Christ through prayer and Scripture reading in order to grow stronger in him year after year.

Who are some oaks of righteousness that you know who are like this? How can you become more and more like an oak of righteousness at this time in your life? People are watching us more than we think, and it is time for us to show the world, as in Isaiah’s day, that the glory of the Lord is within us through the death of Christ on the tree of the cross.