The Evergreen Oak

All winter long, while other trees were bare, one proud oak remained green and leafy.  But on closer inspection, the leaves proved not to be its own: it was the host of masses of evergreen mistletoe and lichens.  Slowly, the parasites had taken over this once mighty tree, lending it an illusion of continual life even while draining it of its strength.  When the trees around it that had appeared dead began to show their lively young green once again, its own appearance of life began to pale in comparison to the real life it was now too enfeebled to display.  It remained dull green, leafy . . . and dead inside.

How often do our lives reflect the false life of this oak?  We are ashamed to look bare and empty, so we cover ourselves with substitutes to disguise the lack we feel of the real life God would have for us.  But upon encountering true life in its humble vibrancy, we can see the worthlessness of our sorry attempts.  We would not wait for God to bring color to our lives in His time and His way, and now we reap the reward: weakness and inability to live an unhindered, growing life.  The parasitical substitutes must be cut away before they kill our hearts and leave us nothing but a dead host for dull, worthless habits.  In the seasons of dormancy, let us not be deceived by our lack of glorious life, but be assured that God is preparing us in the winter for a flourishing spring of His grace.  Wait for Him!