YOU ARE NOT A TREE Job 14:7-9, “At least there is hope for a tree. If its cut down, it will begin to grow again. New branches will appear on it. Its roots may grow old in the ground. Its stump may die in the soil. But when it smells water, it will begin to grow. It will send out new growth like a plant” (New International Reader’s Version). Oftentimes we use this scripture to encourage people when they are experiencing “deadness” or “dryness” in one area of their lives or the other. For instance, a man who seems to have fallen from grace to grass could be made to understand from this scripture that there is still hope that he will rise again; a woman whose husband has absconded with another woman could be encouraged by this scripture to believe that God can still restore her husband and their marriage, etc. Here we want to discuss one of the lessons we could learn if we take a look at that passage of the Bible from verse 7 to 12, At least there is hope for a tree. If its cut down, it will begin to grow again. New branches will appear on it. Its roots may grow old in the ground. Its stump may die in the soil. But when it smells water, it will begin to grow. It will send out new growth like a plant. No man is like that. When he dies, he is buried in a grave. He takes his last breath. Then he is gone. Water disappears from lakes. Riverbeds become empty and dry. In the same way, a man lies down and never gets up. He wont wake up or rise from his sleep until the heavens are gone.” From this scripture we can see something that is a very clear difference between a tree and a human being – a tree that is cut down and dried up can still come back to life but a man that is dead is dead and gone forever. In fact, Hebrews 9:27 says that people have to die once and after that, God will judge them. It is very sad to note, however, that a lot of Christians live as if their case is like that of a tree that still has a hope of coming back to life after dying. Many Christians do not seem to understand or care that once they die their case is sealed. Such people live a careless life of sin, going into the same sin over and over and confessing to God each time. Betty, a Christian sister, once told Bridget, another Christian sister, to sincerely watch her ways and allow the Word of God to bring about a change for good in her lifestyle so that she would not miss heaven. Bridget reminded Betty that the founder of their church died without forgiving a particular person who had offended him, and God gave him a chance to come back to life and forgive that person so that he would not go to hell because of unforgiveness. She therefore told Betty that even if she died in sin God could still bring her back to life so she could repent. It is frightening to think that the devil could actually deceive a born again Christian in this manner! And only God knows how many of His children are actually walking in such darkness and ignorance. Bridget’s response to Betty’s counsel brings to mind the story in Matthew 4:5-7, “Then the devil taketh Him up into the holy city, and setteth Him on a pinnacle of the temple, And saith unto Him, If Thou be the Son of God, cast Thyself down: for it is written, He shall give His angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.” Judging from Bridget’s words, if she were to be faced with the same temptation as Jesus was, she would most likely have fallen down from that height expecting God to send His angels to catch and stop her from hurting herself. Just like Bridget, many Christians today are tempting the Lord their God but think that they are exercising faith in Him; and then when they get into trouble they blame God for not being faithful to them. The fact that God allowed some people to come back to life to do one thing or the other does not mean that He will do the same for everyone. Definitely there are many born again Christians who have died in sin and are eternally separated from God. He did not give them another chance. There are situations where God makes exceptions, but that is His own prerogative. Psalm 115:3 says that our God is in heaven and does anything He wants to do. The Lord even told Moses that He would have mercy on whom He would have mercy and compassion on whom He would have compassion (Romans 9:15). The servant of God that Bridget made reference to received that kind of mercy because God chose to show it to him. There are many servants of God who would die with unforgiveness in their hearts and God would not give them a second chance. Some Christians may not be bold enough to make the kind of statement that Bridget made; some may even not think in their hearts that if they died God would bring them back to amend their ways and get ready for heaven but their character shows that they are not making any serious preparations to meet their God. Child of God, if you were to die today would you end up on the Lord’s side or have reason to wish that you were a tree that could have another chance to live? Do not be deceived; do not leave anything to chance. You have just one life to live – use it to prepare for eternity.
Posted on: Sat, 01 Feb 2014 16:34:38 +0000
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