By Randy Maxwell, vice president for administration
“Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling or falling into sin, and to present you unblemished [blameless and faultless] in the presence of His glory with triumphant joy and unspeakable delight.”
I was twelve years old when I nearly fell off a mountain.
Ok, that was a bit dramatic. To be more precise, I slid down a hillside, which, for an adolescent city kid who was experiencing his first or second summer camp in the mountains, was pretty dramatic.
The trouble started when Kevin, my best friend, cracked a joke that made me laugh and lose my footing on the narrow mountain trail we were walking along.
The hillside below the trail sloped away at a steep angle and I began to tumble and slide down at a pretty fast clip.
The drama of the situation was heightened by the fact that at the bottom of that hill was a river that ran through the camp. It was a river that you could hear from all over the camp but was hard to see through the trees from most spots above it.
As I slid, I feared it would be mere seconds before I was not only going to see the river but be in it. In desperation I tried my best to grab onto anything that would slow my momentum—rocks, twigs, dirt—anything.
Suddenly, out of nowhere my flailing hands found the root of a tree sticking up out of the ground. Surely the Lord must have planted it there just for me!
I grabbed onto that root like a drowning person grabs onto a life preserver and it held fast, breaking my fall and stopping me from taking a swim that day. . . or worse.
God used another tree long ago to break my fall into sin.
On that tree hung my Savior who said that by believing in Him I would not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16).
Today Jesus intercedes for me without ceasing in the heavenly sanctuary and declares that He is able to keep me and you from “stumbling or falling into sin, and to present [us] unblemished [blameless and faultless] in the presence of His glory with triumphant joy and unspeakable delight.”
I thank God for the tree that saved me from my fall off the mountain, and I thank Him for the tree of Calvary that saves me daily from falling short of His glory.
Activity Prompt
Draw or cut out a large tree trunk. Add branches or big leaves - and write significant times in your spiritual walk when God has intervened. Take a few minutes of quiet reflection for this activity. Then share your spiritual growth tree with your family members.
Prayer Prompt
Lord, keep growing us for Your kingdom. Forgive us our sins and shortcomings. Grow us in Your grace, show us in Your way, and keep us in the center of Your will. Thank You for hanging on a tree to give us the gift of gathering under the Tree of Life for eternity. Amen.
