Bible Reading: Matthew 25:31-46
Key verse: “If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth: and if the tree fall toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be” (Ecclesiastes 11:3).
In August 2011, Hurricane Irene threatened eastern North Carolina with wind and water. I decided we should take precautionary measures and cut down a tall pine which leaned slightly toward our dwelling. My son-in-law, an experienced logger, thought the tree could be safely removed. He carefully cut through the base, notching here and leaving a bit of wood there. He inserted wedges to get the tree to fall in the right direction. The pine teetered uncertainly as we struggled desperately to apply enough pressure in those final moments to drop it away from the house. How thankful we were when it finally lay on the ground, rather than in our kitchen!
Like the pine, we grow leaning in one direction or another. At the end of life we will fall the way we have leaned. In the Judgment, God will send some to the right and others to the left. It will not be hard for Him to know which side a soul belongs on; He will simply note which way that person leaned in life. If one’s inclination was toward God’s Word and His righteousness, He will place that person on His right. If one has leaned toward the world with a longing eye and a grasping hand, that person will fall to the left.
So we live, our daily decisions building the case for our own judgment. And when Judgment Day arrives, there will be no wedges, no strategic cutting, and no pressure applied to overcome a leftward lean. Today is our opportunity. The Judge offers not only to help us identify any wrong leanings, but also to provide us the power to overcome wrong and begin leaning in the right direction. How just is our God!
Is my name written there, on that page white and fair?
—Mary A. Kidder
From Paws on My Porch, by Gary Miller
© 2015 TGS International, PO Box 355, Berlin, Ohio 44610
Used by permission.
