Timber!

“…Everyone who commits sin commits lawlessness, for sin is lawlessness. You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who remains in him sins; No one who sins has seen him or known him.” (1 John 2:29-3:6)

Today’s reading speaks of sin, and it reminds me of a story.

An old teacher was once taking a walk through a forest with a pupil by his side.  The old man suddenly stopped and pointed to four plants close by his side.  The first was just beginning to peep above the ground, the second had rooted itself pretty well into the earth, the third was a small shrub, while the fourth was full-sized tree.

The tutor said to his young companion: “Pull up the first.”  The boy easily pulled it up with his fingers.  “Now pull up the second.”  The youth obeyed, but found the task not so easy.  “Now the third.” The boy had to use all his strength and had to use both arms to uproot it.  “And now,” said the master, “try your hand at the fourth.”  But the trunk of the tall tree, grasped in the arms of the youth, hardly shook its leaves.

“This, my son, is just what happens when we sin.  When they are young, we can cast them out more readily with the help of God; but when they are old, it is hard to uproot them, though we pray and struggle ever so sincerely.”

Jesus takes away our sins, but our tall trees – our old sins – are hard for him to uproot.    Fortunately, he has an ax, as any good carpenter would possess.   Timberrrrr!

Deacon David Pierce