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The Liberty Tree
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In the front yard of the parsonage where I live is
a tree the people here call the Liberty Tree. I think it was planted
in 1976, America’s bicentennial year, but don’t quote me on that. Whatever
the reason, I like the name. To tell the truth, I’ve never had a tree
in my yard that had a name!
This morning, we awoke to a beautiful snow which had fallen during the night.
This soft powder from heaven turned the barren Liberty Tree into a thing
of stunning beauty. As I looked at it, and photographed it, I thought
of the wonderful way that God used the symbolism of the tree to convey truth
in the Bible. Of course, in the very beginning, there was the tree
of life in the middle of God’s paradise. Sadly, man chose to eat from
another tree in that beautiful garden.
The believer who meditates day and night in God’s word is compared to a tree
planted by streams of water that never withers nor lacks fruit.
But the Biblical picture that always comes to mind when I think of this symbol
is the tree we are told about in Exodus 15. The people of Israel had
just celebrated their final deliverance from bondage in Egypt with singing,
praising and dancing. After this exciting experience, Moses led the
people into the desert for three days. During this time, this great
mass of people could find nothing to drink. Then they arrived in Marah
where at last they found water. How excited and relieved they must
have felt, and how disappointed when they discovered that the water was too
bitter to drink.
So Moses cried out to God, and God showed him a tree. Moses cut the
tree and threw it into the bitter water. The bitter became sweet.
God then said to His people, “I am the LORD who heals you.”
What a beautiful picture of Jesus Christ who grew up, Isaiah says, like a
tender plant, like a root out of dry ground. When He was grown to perfection,
He too was cut down as a tree. But in that cutting down He has become
for us the healing from all bitterness—He has become the source of our life.
Today, my earnest desire is that you would receive this healing from the
bitterness of sin that only Jesus can give. His touch can come to you
now just as the soft, pure snow covered the branches of our Liberty Tree
last night.
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