• The Old Tree

  Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 4, 2010 (message contributor)

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  Scripture:  Philemon 1:11

  Tags:  God Brings Purpose

THE OLD TREE

There is an old proverb about the leader of a city who would take daily walks to gain peace of mind and inspiration from nature. One day, the burdens of his position had his mind more disturbed than normal, and the old man found himself walking much further than usual. Eventually he stopped to rest, and as he was regaining his strength, he spotted a great tree which easily towered above all the rest. The tree was a wonder to behold, and it lured the old man to investigate it in more detail.

The man continued to follow the path he was on until he finally stood underneath the great tree. Its branches spread so wide that the tree could easily have provided shade for more than 1,000 horses. As the man stood gazing up at the majesty of the tree, he wondered, "What kind of tree is this? Its timber must be quite extraordinary." His mind raced with thoughts of how he could impress the people of his village with the story of this tree and all the wealth it would bring the village by cutting it down.

But as he continued to study the tree, he noticed that the branches were too gnarled and twisted to be of use for lumber. He took a closer look at the trunk of the tree, and he could see where it had been split and damaged many time in the past, thus making it worthless for lumber, as well. The man exclaimed, "This wretched tree is completely useless. Why in the world did it ever grow so large?"

In disgust, the man sat down under the tree and reflected on its worthlessness. As he sat there in the deep cool shade of the mighty tree, a slow smile crept across his face. He thought, "The tree grew to this mighty size because it is useless to those who would have cut it down. Its beauty and great shade would not have been if man had found the tree useful. Now, what seems useless to man is exactly the kind of thing that God puts to great use." The old gnarled tree became a great encouragement to the man, and from its inspiration he found himself looking for Godly value in people--not worldly value. As a result, his village was filled with peace and prospered.

Source: From a sermon by Robert Sickler, Christian Encouragement, 2/15/2010