ARE YOU A TREE HUGGER?

Now, I ask the question above, not as one concerned about your environmental leanings, but rather, as one who is interested in your willingness to follow where your Savior leads? Allow me to pontificate…..

Throughout the Bible, there is story after story where God asks those who believe in Him to let go of the tree of security and climb out on the limb of faith. Abraham, Noah, Moses and countless others in the Old Testament…each were busy minding their own business; enjoying their lives as simple men of faith when they heard the call of God. He asked each of them to step out of their comfort zone and perform a task that He had ordained for them to do.

In simple words, they were called to service. They were called to leave the familiar and status quo behind, to shed the cloak of comfort and to go where God would lead….to let go of the tree trunk and climb out on the limb.

Jesus required the same thing when he issued the call to Peter, the Brothers and their friends to lay down their fishing nets and follow him. He issued the same call to another young man whose story is told in both the gospels of Mark and Luke….

As He was setting out on a journey, a young man ran up, knelt before Him and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God,” replied Jesus. “You know the commandments: Do not murder; do not commit adultery; do not steal; do not bear false witness; honor your father and mother.” “Teacher, All these things I have kept from my youth,” he replied.

Then, looking at him, Jesus loved him and said to him, “You lack one thing: Go and sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then, come and follow Me.” But he was stunned at this demand and he went away grieving because he had great wealth. Mark 10:17-22


Did you catch all that? Jesus looked at him with love…then he called him from the comfort of hugging his tree of wealth to a commitment to lay up treasure in heaven. He asked this young ruler to leave the “good life” for the promise of eternal life…to give up all in order to gain heaven…and don’t miss the reaction of the young ruler in Mark’s account of this encounter….the young man was STUNNED at this request.

Stunned that Jesus could possibly ask such a thing of him…to forsake and sell all he had worked so hard to achieve and then, to distribute his possessions to the poor. Surely, this was just some type of cruel joke? So we raise the question….what about you and me and our comfort zones?

How many times has God asked you to let go of your tree, unwrap you death clutch and climb out on the limb in obedience to His call to service and ministry …and what was your response? Were you stunned like the young man that God could possible ask you to leave a good job to go to the mission field….that you should take the bonus you received and make a donation to your church’s building fund …or that you should skip vacation this year and spend the week abroad spreading His word.

For each of us, the list of God’s call to leave the comfort of the tree trunk and to climb out on that scrawny, shaky limb to do His will, to answer His call, is endless….yet, each call comes from our Savior who loves us and gave His life for us. He will not ask us to go where He has not prepared the way ….we are equipped to be limb climbers because of our faith in Him.

So, don’t be like the rich young ruler ….don’t ask the question, “What must I do?” and then leave the Savior…grieving because of His answer. Rather, be like Peter who says to Christ later in the same chapter, “Look, we have left everything and followed you.”

Whereby Christ responded to him by saying, “I assure you, there is no one who has left house, brothers or sisters, mother or father, children or fields because of Me, and the gospel, who will not receive 100 times more, now at this time as well as eternal life in the age to come.” Luke 18:29-30

I know the limb may look perilous, but the decision to stay close and hug the tree has too great a cost….and a grief that will prove too much to bear. Listen today for the call of your Savior and be ready to let go and climb out where God has called you to be …you’ve so much to gain… and a new perspective so grand, you’ll wonder why you haven’t done this before.

Striving to be a Limb Climber,
WPQ