By Peter Hallett
Published May 6, 1997
I had the unfortunate duty of cutting down a tree last week. Relax, this was no case of environmental vandalism although I must, say, I did not enjoy the task at all.
It all began about nine years ago when my wife and I gleefully collected our swag of shrubs and trees from the government nursery to vegetate our barren building block.
One little bush, which looked like a skinny conifer, was lovingly plopped in the ground about 60cm from the house, just outside our bedroom window.
It was such a small, insignificant looking plant we decided it was impossible to believe the label which suggested one day it would be a large tree.
A friend, in the landscape business, sided with the label, but we trusted out eyes and our eyes told us this was a small, inconspicuous little plant.
But like many of the small, seemingly harmless things we plant in our lives, the tree grew. You might say it was disaster by degrees.
When I finally got out the axe, our little friend had passed the eaves (with the help of a limbo lean), its branches were embracing the entire window and the rest of the plants in the garden looked like stark, spindly runners trying to escape Conifer the Barbarian.
The trunk was bad enough, but once I got to the roots I was in deep panting mode. How could one so tiny create so much sweat?
How many times have I seen in troubled lives the same scenario? Enormous energy being thrown at huge problems which began as one, little, hardly noticeable decision.
Just one drink, no one will know. Just one cigarette, it can’t do any harm. Just one lie, well its half the truth. Just one look, just one touch, just one moment of bitterness...
The list goes one, we know it so well. Human beings are faced daily with the exorbitant bills that come from trying to uproot the physical, emotional, relational and spiritual problems we have freely planted in our own lives.
Like me, maybe it’s time to read the label. It’s called the Bible and its God’s care label for his greatest treasure - you and I. It explains what to plant where and how and what to avoid at all costs.
Maybe you are facing one of those little choices this very day. To speak or act in such a way that will eventually lead to something massive - and unpleasant - in your life.
God alone can give us the strength and desire to make the right choices. And he’ll even help with the big ones already gone wrong. Stop and think. Where is that decision you are about to make taking you? What further decisions will it lead to. Have you read the Maker’s label?