As the tree falls so must it lie
I was visiting my mother and father's grave recently. They are buried in an old cemetery in Glasgow. As I drove round the cemetery I could help but see this tree lying among the grave stones. It reminded me of a text from Ecclesiastes 11.3 that I sometime heard my father repeat. " As the tree falls so it must lie". He would say it perhaps referring to someone who had just died. The point he would make is that how we live this life determines how we are remembered by friends and relatives, but it also challenges us to think about eternity. There is another verse in Hebrews 9.7 which says, "Its appointed unto a human being once to die, but then we face the judgement." I find these verse challenging, a reminder to all of us that we have to give an account of ourselves one day to the Almighty. Of course some people think such talk is old hat, scare mongering. But you know what, if I have to give an account of myself to my earthly boss, what makes me think that my creator will not ask me to give an account of my life. I'm glad I believe I have an advocate who will stand with me on that day.
Posted By: Jimmy On: 24 Nov 2011 At: 11:10pm
My Father died thirty years ago today he was 67.
I would have to say that I prefer Christian teaching based upon scripture rather than the denigration of scripture. Because we can give our full support to something in the secular world, does not always mean that it is of the Holy Spirit, of the body of Christ and aspiring to the life of the Kingdom of God. There is a blurring of the lines between the natural and the spiritual the secular and the church and the world and the Kingdom of God.