Tree of Heaven

What do you hope is under your Christmas tree this year? I

want share the blessing of some words from the book A Tree

Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith.

Let me be something every minute of every hour of my life.

Let me be gay. Let me be sad. Let me be cold. Let me be warm.

Let me be hungry. Have too much to eat. Let me be ragged or well dressed.

Let me be sincere. Let me be deceitful. Let me be truthful. Let me be a liar.

Let me be honorable and let me sin.

Only let me be something of every blessed minute.

And when I sleep, let me dream all the time that no piece of living is ever lost.

The tree in the novel is called; Ailanthus Antisana or the Tree

of Heaven. The story is a parable on how to thrive in a harsh

setting. There is a reason the Christmas tree is an Evergreen; it

never dies, it always grows. You can see it growing out of a

rock in the mountains or in the desert struggling for life. But

ever growing and being green.

Christmas is a celebration of the tree of Heaven. The law is not

based on faith; on the contrary, “The man who does these things

will live by them.” Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law

by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone

who is hung on a tree.” He redeemed us in order that the blessing

given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ

Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.

Galatians 3:12-14

My Christmas prayer is simple, that all who do not walk with

Jesus, may find the tree of heaven. It is only in Christ, I have

found that I can truly be something every blessed minute!

Have a Blessed Christmas,

Pastor Roger