With or Without Him?

When I was a little guy, we had a big tree in the back garden. I wasn't sure what that tree was. I think it may have been an apricot tree. I remember it well. Apparently, my big brother and my dad had built the tree house/cubby house in it, and it was great.

Well, it was great back then, but being the youngest, all my other siblings had all grown up and gone. The old cubby almost fell apart. It became a rough-looking, ramshackle old thing in a tree. 

Being the youngest of five other kids, I pretty much had what was left of the cubby all to myself, which was fabulous!

My mates and I had a great time in the old cubby. We loved playing at being pirates in the old tree. It was great, and I have a lot of good memories until I fell out of it one day.

Trees are amazing. I love trees. When we first built our home here in Newcastle, Australia, there was one huge gum tree in the front yard of our block, and to be quite truthful, it was one of the reasons we bought the block of land in the first place. How mistaken can I be? It had to come down. It was us or the tree. It became quite dangerous.

I remember when we first brought our baby boy home from the hospital, Sue was feeding him in the middle of the night, and there was a huge storm going on outside, and the gum tree was going blitz. I kept on looking out of the window (not sure what I could have done if it fell on us) and praying that the tree would hold on, and praise God it did.

After that, we decided it had to come down. Sad, but so right.

Trees are great. I love trees.

Way back in the Old Testament, in Daniel chapter 4, Old King Nebuchadnezzar had a vision or a dream, maybe, and it went like this:  "These are the visions I saw while lying in bed: I looked, and there before me stood a tree in the middle of the land. Its height was enormous. The tree grew large and strong, and its top touched the sky; it was visible to the ends of the earth. Its leaves were beautiful, its fruit abundant, and on it was food for all. Under it, the wild animals found shelter, and the birds lived in its branches; from it every creature was fed." 

It wasn't a great outcome for the king; it is well worth the read, but nevertheless, it was an amazing dream, and Jesus used the same example of giant trees.

Jesus told an amazing parable/story about a mustard seed of all things.

I've never seen a mustard seed. can't imagine many people have.

But here, Jesus uses a mustard seed to tell many people what it really means.

A mustard seed is pretty small; in fact, it is quite unique, tiny, hardly even visible, microscopic.

This tiny little seed can grow and grow, keeping on growing, reaching a tree about 3.5 metres, or around 10 feet, in height. That's amazing considering the size of the original seed.

In one of Jesus' parables or stories, he mentioned the mustard seed and the remarkable tree it grows into. It went like this, and I quote from Matthew 13:31-32.

Jesus told this short story: "The Kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches."

In  Jesus' story about the mustard tree, He started off the story by saying, "What is the kingdom of God like? So what was he intending with this parable/story?

That the kingdom of God is planned, and it's just a small inkling of what is going to happen. God's word is growing enormously and continues to grow so large that it extends way beyond Jerusalem and touches every single place on God's earth.

The very truths that Jesus told while here on earth would have been like the mustard seed, just lying there all quiet and unassuming, probably in a dusty old field somewhere, and no one was taking any notice of it at all. Until God the Father, just like the mustard seed, let the truth of Jesus grow and grow and grow, and not one single person can stop it, even though so many have really tried so hard to stop it completely.

You can read another prophecy about how Christianity will grow and grow regardless. You can read what Ezekiel said in chapter 17 about how a "small sprig will produce branches and bear fruit and become a huge cedar tree."

Jesus was probably one of the poorest people, and he had the humblest of families, yet it appeared that he was crucified only after three years of bringing the truth to the world.

After the cruel death of Jesus and His miraculous resurrection, the church actually grew and grew and continues to grow, even if there are so many in the world against Christianity, and countless countries and people are persecuting and even killing Christians because they dare to stand up and believe that Christ is the way to eternal life.

Where are you with Christ? Are you way against Him? Are you totally confused about Him?

Then please don't shut your life and heart to what He has to say to you. Open your mind to what Jesus said in those three short but really full years. I know He changed my life, and I know he will change yours.

Give your life to Jesus now and ask Him to come into your life and be number one. He will definitely change your life. Life will go on seemingly as it always does, BUT your decision to follow Christ will change your life so much. I know it has mine.

God bless you this week. Hope to see you next time.