The Arbor
Behind an apartment at the edge of town stands an arbor.
Six feet high, it was designed and built to support climbing
plants, and it has been put to good use. The residents have
planted climbing roses at the base of the arbor posts, and
then added trellises to help the roses climb to the top.
Beneath the arbor are shrubs, flowering bushes, and
statuary. Hanging from the rungs at the top are
bird-feeders. The arbor is beautiful to see, and
undoubtedly a source of great pleasure to its owners.
Nearby sits a second arbor. Almost identical to the first,
it stands stark, bare, and unused. Its sole adornment is a
fading, yellow thermometer, nailed to one of the posts.
With nothing to cover it, the wood appears much older and
more weathered. A monument to futility and unrealized
purpose, the second arbor stands stark, bare, and wasted.
Your life stands like an arbor, a gift from God, waiting to
be used. You can choose to complain that your arbor is too
short, or too weathered, or not as nice as somebody else's,
or you can start planting. God is not going to judge you
on whether your life flowered as beautifully as someone
else's. But God will judge you on whether you used
what he gave you or not.
Beethoven could have complained that his hearing was
worse than others, and excused himself from even trying. He
chose to plant instead, and in the process, revolutionized
music.
The famous physicist Steven Hawking could
have complained that few other people have to cope with a
debilitating illness like his. Instead, he chose to plant,
and revolutionized the science of physics.
For every arbor
larger than yours, I can show you one that is smaller or
more dilapidated or more limited.
The choice is yours: complain, or start planting.
Your life is God's gift to you. What you make of it is your
gift to God.
[ Love Notes, by Mark Phillips -- Christianlovenotes-subscribe@onelist.com ]
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