Christmas is near and the family is sitting by the fire. As the young daughter looks at the Christmas tree she asks, “Where did our Christmas tree come from?” Mom begins to tell her where they bought it… “But where did it come from?” interrupts the child.
To the best of her ability mom explains that pine trees have pine cones—which contain seeds. These seeds contain the essence of a pine tree. The pine cone falls to the earth and from the seed we get a pine tree! Mother confesses that she doesn't fully understand it but she believes it, and knows it is true. She goes on to explain that a significant portion of our food comes from seed and most of our remaining food comes from animals that eat seeds and/or products of seeds.
The seed is an extremely fascinating and miraculous part of God’s grand design of creation. In a tiny seed there is life! Some seeds are so small we must use a microscope to see them, others are quite large. Seeds reproduce their own kind of life—a tiny orchid seed will never produce a coconut, and vice versa. Virtually all seeds can live in a dormant stage for years. Scientists have found some seeds over four thousand years old which they believe still contain life.
On several occasions Jesus Christ used seeds in His parables. “God’s kingdom is like a pine nut that a farmer plants. It is quite small as seeds go, but in the course of years it grows into a huge pine tree, and eagles build nests in it” (Matthew 13:31b-32, The Message).
Jesus took time to explain some of the parables in which He used seeds, for example: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” (Matthew 13:37b-43)
This year as you look at Christmas trees think of Jesus Christ—the One who died for our sins on a tree at Calvary! Consider Jesus Christ the Creator of all seeds and the sustainer of our lives (both physical and spiritual). By Him all things consist, are held together, and produce after their own kind (Colossians 1:17).
This CHRISTmas season consider how Jesus Christ came as a baby to Bethlehem that He might bring us to eternal glory with Him forever and ever. How strange it is that when we see a pine cone fall from a tree to the earth we know it contains seeds which contain the essence of a pine tree, yet we lack the simple faith to understand that the Creator of the universe could come to earth as a man. Although Christ was a true human being, He also contained the essence of God—in fact was truly God!—as well as truly man. “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11).
