August 25, 2008
Long
Lived
I
was doing some research on them recently and was astounded by their appearance.
In many ways, they are not what I expected them to look like. They are gnarled
and twisted. Some have be reported to exceed 30 feet in diameter, but they only
rarely reach 50 feet in height, and are usually shorter than that. Their leaves
are green and the bark grey. They are the olive trees, referred to many places
in the Bible.
Some
of the trees on the Mount of Olives are between 1,000 and 2,000 years old.
Apparently no one knows for certain because olive trees don't have growth rings
like other trees (or so I've read. I'm no expert on olive trees). The experts
are certain that the trees in the vicinity of Jerusalem weren't there at the
time of Christ because the Romans cut them all down during their siege of that
city in 70 AD.
Even
at 1,000 years, the trees are ancient compared to humans. They've seen the rise
and fall of empires and changes beyond our comprehension. They've seen
technology move from wheeled carts to autos and jet planes. They were around
when travel to the moon wasn't even contemplated and when man first stepped on
the moon.
Compared
to those olive trees, even the longest living human ever recorded, Methuselah,
who lived 969 years (see Genesis 5:27) was a mere contender. If the trees are
closer to 2,000 years as some believe, Methuselah doesn't even fit in the
ranking.
Learning
a bit about them gave me cause to stop and ponder. These same trees were growing
before my earliest ancestors came to the New World in the early 1600's. They'll
still be bearing fruit long after my grandchildren have passed away. That
doesn't say much for the life span of a person.
Scripture
tells us that our life is fleeting.
Knowing
that life is short, even compared to that of a simple tree people do incredible
things to leave a legacy. They will do virtually anything to ensure they are
remembered after they have died. Most of it is in vain. Only a few are
remembered after a generation or two. Fewer still are known as long as an olive
tree lives.
There
is a legacy that will outlast the olive tree. The works done for Christ will
endure forever. When you walk in obedience to His calling, you are building a
legacy that will outlast a thousand generations of olive trees. Any other
attempt at a legacy is futile.
What
are you spending your life on? Are you investing in the things that won't
survive as long as the tree or those things that will endure for all of
eternity?
Until
next time, may the things of eternity be first in your mind.
Be
blessed!
Darrel
Mason