The Original Christmas Tree

Date: December 24, 2012 3:08 AM
Topic: The Original Christmas Tree

The Original Christmas Tree   
Scripture Focus: Isaiah 6:8-13
“Though a tenth remains in the land, it will again be laid waste. But as the terebinth and oak leave stumps when they are cut down, so the holy seed will be the stump in the land” (Isaiah 6:13).
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Decorating the Christmas tree was always a great event with out family. On Thanksgiving weekend we would go to the tree farm, choose and cut own our tree, and bring it home. Everyone helped Dad anchor it in the tree stand. Mom would put on the lights, and the children hung ornaments. With great joy and Christmas carols playing in the background, we stood back to admire our work.

But out in the fields we left behind an ugly stump, never thinking of it as symbolic of Isaiah's “holy seed.” Jesus came from that stump and brought beauty and life. “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse: from his roots a Branch will bear fruit” (11:1).

It was always a sad day when we would take down the dead, dry Christmas tree, stripping it of its decorations. Abandoned outside, its last light came from flames that consumed it. In contrast, we can remember the original Christmas tree from Jesse's stump - Jesus, the light of the world, whose beams can never be extinguished.

INSIGHT: Praise God for His Son, now and everlasting life forever.