Have you ever heard of taking a get-well card to a tree? Well, it really happened! In 1989 an oak tree in Austin, Texas, was poisoned. It was a special tree, called the “Treaty Oak,” believed to be about 600 years old. It was a protected tree, and it was a crime to try to kill it. Who would want to kill a famous tree? The policeman who worked on the crime did a lot of work to try to figure out who tried to kill this tree. Meanwhile, it became famous, and many thousands of people visited it. People left get-well cards and even cans of chicken soup for the sick tree.
A lot of work was done to try to save the tree from dying. Finally, when nothing seemed to be working and two-thirds of the tree was dead, they started chopping it down. They wanted to make money on the tree to be able to plant more trees. If the tree had to die, it could be used to give life to other trees, they thought. Part of it was made into 600 lovely pens, one of which was sent to the governor of Texas at the time, George W. Bush. Other parts were made into tables, bowls, and wooden boxes.
But then ... the tree didn’t die.
Maybe you have heard about another famous tree. There once was a tree that was cut down and used as a cruel torture instrument, a cross. The Lord Jesus, the wonderful Son of God, was hung on that tree. It was the worst use possible for a tree. Of course, that tree made into a cross didn’t do anything wrong, but ... who would want to kill the Son of God? Wicked people wanted to kill Him, because they were jealous of Him.
There is a happy ending to this story about the tree made into a cross. God used man’s awful crime for good, because the Lord Jesus paid for the sins of those who believe on Him while He hung on that tree. And He rose again the third day to prove that all those sins are taken care of. I hope you have trusted the One who died on the most famous tree of all, for you. “Christ [has] redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that [hangs] on a tree” (Galatians 3:1313Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: (Galatians 3:13)).
The man who tried to kill the Treaty Oak spent nine years in jail, when he was discovered and taken to court. It could have been even longer. But people who don’t receive the Lord Jesus as their Savior will spend forever in hell. I hope that won’t happen to you.
Messages of God’s Love 6/2/2024