day 2550: Decision Trees

“It flowed down the center of the main street. On each side of the river grew a tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month. The leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations.  No longer will there be a curse upon anything. For the throne of God and of the Lamb will be there, and his servants will worship him.”

We’ve become used to working through alternative approaches by the use of decision trees. If this, then that; working ourselves through each yes or no until we end up at the bottom of the tree, with a decision. When in doubt, go to the decision tree and climb through it diligently and with discipline.  From there, a better decision can be made.

The most referenced living thing in the Bible, other than God and people, are trees.  The Bible starts with one and ends with one.  Mathew Sleeth in Christianity Today states the prominence of trees to God this way: “Every major character and every major theological event in the Bible has an associated tree.  The only exception to this pattern is Joseph, and in Joseph’s case the Bible pays him its highest compliment: Joseph is a tree.”  In the verse above we learn that the throne of God stands in front of a tree.  Each day we are faced with hard decisions.  Sometimes they are gut wrenching and come with so much stress we don’t know what to do with them.  But, God gives us Himself as our decision tree to call upon, to rest against, to eat of its fruit, to find shade and shelter.  When we look to God’s tree of life for our eternity, we can find the security of His unshakeable roots.

Reference: Revelation 22:2-3 (New Living Translation)