Walking along the Medina River I noticed something interesting. Between two massive Cypress trees was a horizontal piece of wood, boards really that had been placed between the trees to serve as a bench. From the appearance, and condition of the boards, they had been there for years.
This isn't all that interesting itself, but what it represented to me is interesting. The boards, like the trees, were wood. Wood that we use to build with, of course, was once a living tree, or trees. As I paused to consider this, I observed that the boards, once living, but now dead, had served a purpose once upon a time. However, the two living trees had over time grown over the edges of the boards. Those boards, without nails or any external attachments, were now firmly fixed between the trees and until they completely rotted, were not going to be removed. They trees were helpless to remove the foreign objects.
People are a lot like that. Often there are things wedged firmly into our lives that we neither need, nor should allow to remain. Someone else placed them there perhaps, and they may be of use to us, or to someone else long ago. But to us now, these things, relationships, habits, addictions, practices, are simply dead wood that serves no purpose. We should remove them, they aren't healthy, and they do not belong. Like the trees in my story, the "thing" in our life that needs to be removed is something we have grown accustomed to, grown around possibly. Sometimes it is just easier to leave the dead boards in place. Removing them is difficult and could be painful, but to allow them to remain could result in much worse damage to our physical and or emotional well being. Sometimes the dead wood is a grudge we've held for far too long. We've been wrong, hurt, and we hold on to that pain thinking that some day we will get even with the one who hurt us. The damage the dead boards was doing to the trees was obvious to me. The trees themselves likely did not know that the boards had caused such a noticable change. When we refuse to forgive as Jesus commanded in Matthew 6:14-15 "For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions."
Is there any dead wood in your life? We all have some at times in our lives.
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