KINGDOM TREE

Saturday, June 23
Ezekiel 17:22-23 (The Message)
"I will take a shoot from the top of the towering cedar...and plant it on a high and towering mountain, on the high mountain of Israel.  It will grow, putting out branches and fruit - a majestic cedar.  Birds of every kind and sort will live under it.  They'll build nests in the shade of its branches." 
     Even in the Old Testament the prophets were telling stories, painting verbal pictures to give glimpses into the glory of the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of heaven.  In Ezekiel's parable, God has created lofty from humble, all live together and are equally welcome - all types and sorts.  Verse 24 continues to acknowledge God as Lord of all.  That's a pretty sound visual of heaven!
     We have a tall spruce tree in our neighborhood - it towers above all the other trees, above all the houses.  It is currently a home to a young hawk, whose morning cries fill the air with the piercing shrill call.  I can imagine all the other birds that nest in that tree, as their voices make a cacophony of sounds.  When I read this verse from Ezekiel, this was the tree that came to my mind.
     ALL have the opportunity to nest in the Kingdom of God.  To find refuge and shelter.  ALL!  How often do we stop and view those we don't agree with or even like as our potential neighbors in the Kingdom of God?  Maybe it's time to bring the Kingdom to our lives here and now...today.  ALL are welcome.