{"id":8219,"date":"2005-12-11T00:09:52","date_gmt":"2005-12-11T05:09:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/?p=8219"},"modified":"2011-07-06T08:28:58","modified_gmt":"2011-07-06T13:28:58","slug":"4633","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2005\/12\/11\/4633\/","title":{"rendered":"Advent: Perfect Trees Require Trimming"},"content":{"rendered":"

ELKHORN, WI (December 11, 2005)\u00a0 – Editor’s note: In preparation for the\u00a0 Christmas observance, Covenant Communications is sharing devotionals\u00a0 that originally appeared in local Covenant church newsletters and are\u00a0 being published here by permission. The following comes from pastor Ryan\u00a0 Eikenbary-Barber of Anchor Covenant Church.<\/em><\/p>\n

By Ryan Eikenbary-Barber<\/div>\n
I am the true vine and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every\u00a0 branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear\u00a0 fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.<\/em> (John 15:1-2)<\/div>\n
Where do you go searching for the perfect Christmas tree? Buying from\u00a0 the Boy Scouts at the local True Value parking lot sure is convenient.\u00a0 Cutting your own Douglas fir at a nearby tree farm pays of with\u00a0 life-long holiday memories.<\/div>\n
There are some good arguments for fake trees, but a perfect<\/em> Christmas tree really has to smell like pine needles. Unless you knock\u00a0 down a tree on your own property, chances are that you will pay good\u00a0 money for a tree that has been groomed to perfection.<\/div>\n
All those six to nine-foot trees on the lot or farm needed help to get\u00a0 so symmetrical. Trees need a shearing knife to look that way. Dead limbs\u00a0 were lopped off. Thin branches were pruned to look denser. Uneven growth\u00a0 was snipped early. Firs are trimmed regularly over eight to ten years in\u00a0 order to look like Christmas trees. The tree you bring home may still be\u00a0 a long way from perfect, but no one would bother with a Christmas tree\u00a0 unless it was pruned.<\/div>\n
As you stroll through the tree farm or down the Christmas tree lot this\u00a0 season, consider how God can still trim you. We don’t have to follow the\u00a0 same familiar patterns. We don’t have to repeat last year’s mistakes. We\u00a0 can be people of holy obedience \u2013 serving others and sharing God’s love.\u00a0 We can grow better than we have ever grown before.<\/div>\n
That baby born in a manger is much more than cute. The message of Jesus\u00a0 Christ is like a pair of clipping shears, shocking some and electrifying\u00a0 others. We could all stand a little pruning. Dead branches will fall.\u00a0 New growth will happen. Just like fir trees, we can start looking like\u00a0 we belong to Christmas if we only allow the Master to trim as needed.<\/div>\n
(Editor’s note: to read earlier Advent messages, please see:<\/em><\/div>\n