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Once
upon a time, a long time ago three trees grew together
in a wood.
One
of the trees liked beauty, another liked adventure and
the third really loved God very much.
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first tree said to the others that he would like to be
made into a beautiful treasure chest so that it could
be filled with beautiful jewels. |
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Whereas
the second tree's ambition was to be made into a strong
ship which could be used to sail the seven seas and have
lots of adventures, and maybe even find new lands. |
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the third tree having listened to the others, said that
all he wanted was to stay where he was, grow stronger
and taller. Then people would look up and see that he
was pointing to God. |
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Many
years passed and then some men came and cut the trees
down.
Instead
of being made into a treasure chest, the first tree
was made into an ugly feeding box. The farmer would
fill it with grain or straw and the animals would use
it to have their meals.
Although
having ambitions to be made into a really strong large
ship, the second tree was made into a small simple fishing
boat.
And
the poor tree who wanted just to be left to grow and
point people to God, was cut into planks and left in
a store yard.
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one cold winters night some people came into the shed
where the feeding box was. And do you know what the feeding
box was used as a baby's cradle. This was no ordinary
baby either. Shepherds came to see it, angel voices sang
and wise men came to the crib, bringing presents for the
young child lying there. |
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When the first tree realised who the baby was he was
very happy. Do you know who the baby was?
It was baby Jesus lying there. And the first tree said,
"My dreams have come true after all. I may not
have been filled with gold and jewels but I have held
the greatest treasure there will ever be."
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More
years passed, in fact about thirty, and one day everything
changed for the second tree. Do you remember what he
had wanted to be?
Yes
a strong ship. And what had he been made into? Yes that's
right, a fishing boat.
The
boat was out on the lake when a terrible storm came.
The wind was so strong and the waves were coming over
the poor boat and it was nearly sinking.
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then something quite incredible happened. One of the men
in the boat stood up and said "Peace be still"
And do you know what happened? The storm stopped and the
lake became very calm. And the small boat knew that he
may not have carried a captain who would explore and find
new lands, but he had carried Jesus, the Maker of heaven
and earth. |
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few years later, a carpenter came to the store yard where
the third tree was, lying in planks. "Maybe now I
will be useful" the tree thought. But the carpenter
made it into a coarse cross. And the tree knew that this
was the kind of cross soldiers used to put criminals,
really bad people, to death. Sure enough the tree was
carried up to the top of a hill and a man was put on it,
and left to die. |
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This
should have been absolutely the worst day of the third
tree's life. Except for one thing. The man on the cross
was Jesus ,the Son of God-dying for the sins of the
world.
On
Easter Sunday morning when Jesus rose from the dead,
the third tree knew for certain that God's love had
changed everything.
God's
love in sending Jesus had made the first tree beautiful,
as the baby Jesus had lain in that feeding box.
This
same Jesus had calmed the storm on the lake and made
the second tree a strong and useful fishing boat.
And
every time people thought of the third tree, made into
that cross at Calvary, they would think of God and see
His Love in action for all the world.
Do
you think you will remember the three trees, and how
they were changed because of God's love?
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