Confessions of a Tree Hugger

Scripture:
My soul cleaves to the dust; 
Revive me according to Your word.
I have told of my ways, and You have answered me;  
Teach me Your statutes.  (Psalm 119:25-26, NASB)  


Observation:
-God's word revives us.
-God hears us and answers when we come to Him openly and honestly.
-We must rely on God to teach us His ways.

Nevada's idea of a forest? Photo © Deb Davis 2013

Application:
I love our journeys out west.   
I am an Oregon girl who loves to be surrounded by trees, to camp out under the stars, to listen to the rushing of a stream through the woods.  So when we mapped out our jouney back to Texas last summer I was looking forward to getting another taste of the woods before the barren plains, but when we reached the National Forest that was on our map this is what greeted us.  And it did not improve.  This is the kind of image I have in my mind when I read "my soul cleaves to the dust."  There is nothing in the dust that allows one to thrive.  You cannot grow well if you are clinging to the dust.  And just look how lonely it is.

Trail in Umqua Natl. Forest, OR. ©Deb Davis 2013

What a difference.  This photo was taken in a National Forest in Oregon near Diamond Lake.   You are bound to meet people traveling along this trail, not to mention a wide variety of wildlife.   This is an area full of life in vivid color.

When God revives us with His word the change is just as dramatic as the difference between these two national forests.   Pretty much every year Ken snaps a picture of me hugging a tree.  I confess, I am a tree hugger and I have taken a lot of grief for it over the years.  People do not understand the relationship I have to trees. But we should all be tree huggers for it was on a tree that Jesus died for the sins of all mankind.  A tree fashioned into a cross.  To know HIm and the power of His resurection is to go from one who clings to the dust to one who clings to a tree of life. 

Now there's a reason to hug a tree.

Grace, Peace, and Mercy,
Deb