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Christ The Evergreen

    A major blessing in my life was the opportunity to have a very special  relationship with my father.   As an only child, he made sure I wasn’t spoiled, which was a great temptation.  But most importantly, we were able to share a lot of wonderful experiences.  One of those channels was hunting.

    My father loved to quail hunt, therefore I love to quail hunt.  Saturday mornings were anticipated all week long when about 6:30 we would go out back, load up our bird dogs, and go over to pick up our hunting buddy, Minter Humphries, and his bird dog.  The three of us spent many wonderful hours in the outdoors.  There were a lot of stories to tell, a lot of laughing, and a lot of memories.  I hold those memories close to my heart to this day.

    We would basically walk all day, taking about an hour for lunch.  Of course, in the winter, the weather was great for walking.  One thing that always stands out in my mind is the way everything looks that time of year.  The leaves are off the trees and brown and gray is everywhere you look.  It seems that life is dormant…dead…void of any color.  I can remember walking through miles of this kind of environment before stumbling upon something that would always stand out and catch your attention.  It would be an evergreen tree.  Whether it be the white backdrop of snow or the gray of the hardwoods, it would always be the focal point of your eyes.  It’s hard to explain, but it always made me feel good, kind of assured that life would be back.  Sometimes there would be a lot of evergreens and you could smell God’s promise of resurrection where it seemed everything else was dead.  I loved hunting in areas where there were evergreens, and to this day I remember that feeling of peace.

    Certainly, in a world of death and destruction, Jesus is the evergreen.  He is the symbol of life, the promise of life to come.  He stands out in a world that is empty of peace and love.  One thing we celebrate at Christmas is the beginning of the life that Christ can give through the birth of a Savior.  We place and decorate the evergreen in our home.  Outside it seems that everything is dead and void, yet the evergreen reminds us of the life that is ahead.  Spring will come and the world will return to life again. 

    The truth to a starving world – we are dead without Christ!  We may have houses and cars and food and clothing.  We may have friends and money and places to go.  We may have high-paying jobs and VCRs and portraits of the past.  But we are dead without Christ.  “What does it profit a man if He gains the whole world, but loses his soul?” (Matthew 16:26)  We are not just lost men in need of a savior, we are also dead men in need of life.

    Christmas is about life.  Jesus is about life.  In the midst of a dead world, we come upon a living Savior.  In the middle of failure and tragedy and sin…surrounded by heartache, sadness and grief…there He stands in love, grace and forgiveness.  His life is always there for us, lifting us up in the winters of despair.  It’s hard to explain, but it brings about a peace that “passes all understanding.”

    Jesus is the Evergreen!

Love in Christ,

Billy

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