Less than half a mile from where I live, a middle age forest stands mute, quietly lifting its praise to our Creator. I'm guessing the trees are slightly younger than the incorporation of our town. Still as they tower over me, they show both their age, and yet, simultaneously, they put on a new layer, every year, adding to the strength they possess, the value of their wood, and the silently rising canopy of beauty over the walking trails which are used daily.

The dots from the Cross of Calvary connect from the ancient wood which bore our Lord, to the quiet stands of forests the world wide.

I can't help but think of the age of those clusters of growing wood on the west coast, beneath which my family and I strolled on early vacations when my wife and her parents took our little ones and us through the famously ancient Redwood forests of sunny northern California.

The strongest connection for me, is that the cord between that dark afternoon in first century Jerusalem, signaled the crucifixion from which I'd be afforded acceptance by God for my sins! Jesus hung on a cursed piece of wood jammed roughly into the rock and dirt of Mount Golgotha, to save the billions of people now living on the planet!

In a sense, the cross on which Jesus died, may well have multiplied significance for us today, forming the raw wood for billions of homes which protect and yield comfort to the families within their strong shelter! There is so much significance in that stand of trees in our park! I wonder how many people realize that Jesus was hung on a pair of thick planks rough-hewn from trunks like those in our recreational area?

I have a new life, because of the gift of God through the blood of Jesus, hanging on one of those trees from an ancient forest. Now I am free, forgiven, and ruled by the Savior, not my gruesome sins!

Lord, as we stand in the knowledge of your salvation, let us remember that You bring us life in every way imaginable! We can live unfettered by slavery's internal shackles!