like a cut down tree.

it always makes me sad to see a big old tree cut down. i passed one today on my way home. all that was left was a gnarled old stump, and lots of branches lying around on the ground. it reminded me of the mighty king Nebuchadnezzar, in the book of Daniel, who had a dream about a mighty tree, reduced to but a stump. it was a picture of his life, and what would become of him, should he continue to lift up his heart in pride. i'm sure an even more disheartening sight than a cut down tree is a person whose life and ministry has been cut off, because they did not choose to surrender wholly unto God. may our lives, instead, be ever fruitful.

Thus says the LORD:
"Cursed is the man who trusts in man
And makes flesh his strength,
Whose heart departs from the LORD.
For he shall be like a shrub in the desert,
And shall not see when good comes,
But shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness,
In a salt land which is not inhabited.

"Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
And whose hope is the LORD.
For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters,
Which spreads out its roots by the river,
And will not fear when heat comes;
But its leaf will be green,
And will not be anxious in the year of drought,
Nor will cease from yielding fruit.

"The heart is deceitful above all things,
And desperately wicked;
Who can know it?
I, the LORD, search the heart,
I test the mind,
Even to give every man according to his ways,
According to the fruit of his doings.

Jeremiah 17:5-10