Tree Trimming
Good Morning,
A farmer went out to sow his seed… Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. Luke 8:5,7
I have an overhead powerline that runs from a main road up about 500’ where it connects to my house. It runs through the woods in some uneven terrain. Not long ago a tree maintenance company hired by the power company showed up to do some tree trimming. They told me there were several trees that had grown too close to the line and were creating the potential for a hazard and the loss of power.
Two things in particular struck me about this process. First, they said they make a regular practice of doing this work every few years to prevent a much bigger problem, an emergency if you will. Secondly, it was not easy work. The ground is rough, it is sloped and there are large boulders that kept them from getting equipment that would make the job easier to the work site. Yet, because it was important, they kept at it and got the job done.
All this reminded me of the Scripture above and the importance of doing regular spiritual maintenance. Like soil our lives need to be weeded of unhealthy and harmful elements that prevent the seeds of Spiritual growth from flourishing. In the parable of Luke 8 there was nothing wrong with the seed planted by the sower. The entire problem was with the receptivity and condition of the soil.
Like the work of the tree trimmers, the weeding of our personal soil is often not easy. It isn’t something fun. It is much easier, at least in the short run, to ignore it. Yet the consequences of neglecting the discipline of cleansing our hearts is potentially disastrous.
The power company knows that it is more prudent and less costly to do the work of preventing crisis rather than the more difficult task of responding to crisis. We would do well to follow their example. King David shows us what this can look like in Psalm 139. True, it takes humility, but the rewards of this hard work are literally eternal.
Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting. Ps.139:23-24
Got any trees that need trimming?
Live on purpose,
Ron Klopfenstein
