Ever Green

    ""Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." 2 Corinthians 4: 16-18 

    Just a few weeks ago, I was the center of attention, beautifully adorned with a glorious purpose. I felt like part of the family when they gathered 'round me and sang, "O Tannenbaum, how lovely are thy branches." I guarded gaily wrapped packages which lay in wait 'round my feet as the twinkling lights reflected my stately beauty. What happened? Now I'm just a sap heaped on a truck with others like me, a stray strand of tinsel to remind me of how far I've fallen. Rumor has it we're heading to the chipper chamber with mulch as our lot. I thought I was an evergreen?

    Life imitates art, it seems. One minute we're a Baywatch babe riding the crest of a wave, then life happens. Skin sags, jowls jiggle and we're sent out to pasture like yesterday's news. The needles are falling. 

    I've got good news for you, my aging friend: "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16)." We can be ever green! The cross symbolizes life, not just death; life everlasting is ours because death was swallowed up in the victory of the empty grave. "If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied (1 Cor. 15:19)." Pitiful, like a Christmas tree in January headed to the dump. "But, Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep (1 Cor. 15:20)."

    So, you may not rock a bikini anymore, but, as the Bride of Christ, He has "bestowed you with a crown of beauty instead of ashes...and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair (Isaiah 61:3)."  Let your Light shine!