The Life Span of a Tree

I love trees. One of my criteria for a good place to live is that there are trees - in the surroundings and around the house. Trees add such a wonderful dimension to enjoyment for me.

I am often amazed at the difference between standing in the sun and slipping under the shade of a tree on a hot day. The welcome temperature change is immediate. Sitting under a tree while sipping a cool glass of sweet tea - well, what could be better than that?

Another reason I love trees is that they provide a habitat for my favorite animal - birds.Without trees, my feathered friends would not have a place to call home. My enjoyment of sitting under a tree or near them is magnified because of the chatter of the birds to each other and their songs - pure bliss.

Unfortunately, lately, I have been noticing the death of trees - in my yard, my neighborhood and throughout the landscape of the larger area where I reside in Texas.  There have been many causes for these, but I am always sad to see the death of a beautiful tree.

Some trees have a predictable and fairly short life span. For years, when I sit on my back porch, I have enjoyed sitting in front of a beautiful red bud tree. That once healthy productive tree is on a terrible downward spiral. It is dying. I'm really not sure there is anything we could have done to save it. Red bud trees rarely live past forty years. Our home is over one hundred years old, so this tree could have been here for a long time.

Recently one of my neighbors lost a huge oak tree in their front yard. A strong wind blew it down, revealing a trunk that must have been diseased for quite some time as it was completely hollow. That tree might have lasted for many more years had it not been for the decay that had been hidden from view. After thunderstorms in our area, I notice more trees that have toppled, sometimes resulting in damage to property around it.

God made all these trees and He knows the life span of each one of them. There is one tree that He created that will never die. For those who know Christ as Savior, we will all get to enjoy this tree and all it has to offer. I am looking forward to seeing this tree. It will be one of the great gifts of eternity.

Then the Lord God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat and live forever" - therefore, the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden...To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God (Genesis 3:22, 23;  Revelation 2:7).