I like to have the satisfaction of money well-spent. I like to have something worthwhile to show for the expense so I was not looking forward to spending money to remove a tree. I wasn’t gaining anything except peace of mind. The fir tree stood over 60 feet tall, right between two outbuildings – a shed and a studio. The last windstorm left the tree with a decidedly-curved trunk that was leaning toward the studio. It wouldn’t take much for the top portion of the tree to fall on the studio’s roof should we get another such windstorm.
We have had a similar tree removed in the past year because it was between the studio and our house. We feared it might fall on our roof or our neighbour’s roof so we made the decision to remove it along with the fir tree in our front yard that was dying. That was a big expense because we not only removed two trees, but we also had the roots removed from the front yard so that we could plant a new tree in its place. We decided to plant a deciduous tree, Freeman Autumn Blaze Maple.
It was quite a shock when the front fir tree was removed because our front porch was now visible from the street. We had been used to the privacy that the fir tree provided because of the breadth of its branches. When we first moved in we were able to string Christmas lights on it, but then it grew too tall for us to reach with our ladder. The one side of the tree that had a northern exposure suffered the most and it eventually looked pitiful because there was no new growth and the existing branches were dying.
In a way spending money can be similar to obeying God because we are spending our time. Sometimes we know that we should do something we don’t want to do because it will cost us our time or finances. We like to get something in return for what we have spent or expended. We are to be wise stewards of the resources we have whether financial or spiritual. This world and everything in it is passing away and there will be a new earth along with a new heaven. Although I may still have to spend money begrudgingly on something that does not satisfy, I look forward to when I will inherit that which is without cost, water from the spring of water of life that Jesus will give me.
“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good and you will delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me; listen, that you may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David.” Isaiah 55:1-3 NIV
Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. “He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true. “He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.” Revelation 21:1-7 NIV
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