Oak and the Reeds

OAK AND THE REEDS

Deuteronomy 29:9

“Carefully follow the terms of this covenant, so that you may prosper in everything you do.”

Moses wants his people to do well in the foreign land they’re about to enter. Foreign [FOR-en] means unknown, strange. The people there worshipped foreign (unfamiliar) gods. God sealed His terms with an oath, “to confirm you this day as His people, that He may be your God as He promised you as He swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”

“Make sure that there is no man or woman, clan or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the Lord our God to go and worship the gods of these nations; make sure there is no root among you that produces such bitter poison.” (Deuteronomy 29:13-14, 18).

Our heavenly Father is possessive of His people. We belong to Him. He is still jealous of us today. Let nothing take His place in Christian and Jewish hearts! This leads us to an Aesop’s fable, The Oak and the Reed, rewritten here:

Fierce winds blew a tornado into a peaceful valley. A giant oak tree watched the slender reeds at his feet bend all the way down to the ground. He asked, “Does that hurt?”

One reed answered the oak, “Not at all! I am limber as a gymnast. Does the wind bother you?”

“Not at all!” the oak said. “Nothing can hurt me!”

Rain sheets hammered down, saturating the ground. The twister aimed straight for the giant oak tree. Furious, it howled a wind gust that uprooted the oak. “Oh no!” the oak groaned, seeing his naked roots exposed for the first time. The oak tree was flung into the stream, landing with a loud crash. His branches waved “Good-bye” to the reed as the oak was swept away.

“Poor oak,” the reed cried.

“Don’t weep for the oak,” a fellow reed advised. “He deserved what he got, standing so proud and tall!”

The oak and the reed are examples of both pride and humility—necessary for victorious living. It is important for believers to be rooted in and stand firm in our belief, proud to be Christians. But we also need to bend when necessary. Humility allows us to learn and love, serving others as we grow.

Take Home Nugget

Let us pray that we know when to be firm, and when to bend. The mark of a great person is not his power, but in his love. Moses humbled himself to personally visit each tribe to bid them farewell, rather than call the nation into an assembly. This personal touch endears Moses to believers as a faith hero (Hebrews 11:24-29).

Let God’s will fill your heart;
Let God’s Spirit do His part.

J.D. Griffith

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