School had just let out for the summer, and Tiff had an idea for an adventure that her neighborhood friends could enjoy. With the new houses being built just down the block, there should be plenty of scrap material for some good fun. She coaxed her best friend, Duffy, to come along, and they were delighted to find lots of scrap lumber in a trash pile.
“Okay, gang,” the young leader exclaimed when the rest of the children had gathered at the trash pile, “Let’s build us a tree house! We can drag all this lumber over to the woods in back of Suzy’s house, and maybe Duffy’s dad could give us some hints on how to make one.” They all thought this was a great idea! And so their adventure began... The site for the tree house was chosen-a huge maple tree with its lowest branches a good 20 feet up. Next, the children asked Duffy’s dad for some building advice. The following day everyone met in the Day’s backyard with all the saws, hammers and nails they could find in their dads’ garages. Hauling the lumber to the tree took most of the morning, but at least it looked as though the dream tree house would really be built.
Sometimes we get so busy with our own plans that we forget that our Creator God has a master plan for our lives. He is watching each one of us, and His plans for us are for our good and blessing. But when we are so busy that we forget Him, He often reminds us that He is in control.
Suzy and her brother Zack began to nail short boards up the trunk of the tree for a “ladder.” Since the floor of the tree house would have to be built on the lowest branch, the ladder had to be built first.
“Now start passing up the boards for the floor,” shouted Zack from the first branch, “and send Duffy up with plenty of nails in her pocket.”
To everyone’s disappointment, the longest boards were not long enough to reach across to the other branch in the fork of the tree. So Zack decided they could just overlap two boards a little and nail them together in the center. “I think it’s called a splice,” he informed them. Duffy remembered her father saying that this should not be done as the boards wouldn’t be strong enough to hold everyone’s weight. Tiff seemed to know what Duffy was thinking. “It’ll be O.K.,” she said, “as long as we put in lots of nails. And anyways, if we don’t do it, we don’t get our tree house,’cause there just aren’t any longer boards.” All agreed with this, for the children were determined to have their tree house, no matter what.
We aren’t any different than these children. We all have to admit that sometimes we get our hearts set on something and nobody can talk us out of it. The Bible tells about someone like that-someone who heard the instructions of the Lord Jesus and did not obey them. The example was a man who built his house on sand. He was going to do things his own way. What do you think became of that house? The Bible says, “It fell: and great was the fall of it.” Matthew 7:2727And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. (Matthew 7:27). God’s instructions are important. Let’s make sure we are building our lives on a good foundation-salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ.
Once the floor was finished, the gang decided to add a guardrail all the way around. Imagine their delight when they returned to the trash pile to find twice as much lumber as there had been the day before!
The tree house was given an upper level... a double-decker tree house!
“Duffy, be sure you drive those nails in tight. We’ll be so high on that level we’ll need walls to keep us from falling off.” Flimsy plywood walls were added and a plywood roof. The children were pleased with their new tree house... all except Suzy. Her inner voice kept telling her the whole thing looked shaky. And though she wouldn’t admit it, she was scared each time she climbed to either level.
Suzy knew the Lord Jesus as her Saviour, but she didn’t pray much or read her Bible. Still, she wanted to do what was right, so she told her dad about the spliced boards in the floor.
When Mr. Day examined it for himself, he told Suzy and Zack they were not to go up there anymore. “And tell the other kids to take it down and move it to a smaller tree,” he added, “or find longer boards.”
Suzy told the gang what her dad had said, but no one would volunteer to rip the floor apart; they all knew they wouldn’t find longer boards.
Soon the kids had forgotten Mr. Day’s warning and were all climbing and having a great time in the tree house... all, that is, but Suzy. However, not wanting to be called a chicken, she finally joined them in the tree, but she was unhappy deep down for disobeying her dad. If Suzy had been reading her Bible she might have remembered the wise verse that says, “Happy is the man that feareth [obeys] always: but he that hardeneth his heart [refuses] shall fall into mischief.” Proverbs 28:1414Happy is the man that feareth alway: but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief. (Proverbs 28:14).
Later in the summer a third level was added. Again the floor had spliced boards. Nobody would admit how scary it felt to be on that high level. Nobody seemed to notice how springy the floor felt at times.
One afternoon as the gang climbed the three levels, chattering away like a bunch of monkeys, Suzy heard it-a crack! Before she could cry out a warning, she felt the third level floor give out under her. Splintering noises followed her cry as, layer by layer, the whole tree house collapsed... with only a few boards left still hanging in the tree branches or clinging by bent nails to the trunk.
After all the crashing and hollering had stopped, each one of the gang got to his feet, stunned and scared, but unharmed except for some scrapes and scratches. They all learned a hard lesson that day because they had not listened to Mr. Day’s warning.
But there is a much more important lesson for each of us to learn from this story. Have you chosen not to listen to God’s warnings about your sins? He warns that no sin can enter heaven and that only the blood of the Lord Jesus can remove them. “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.” 1 John 1:77But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (1 John 1:7). Have you listened to His warning? Have you accepted the Lord Jesus as your Saviour?
The gang lost their tree house by not obeying Mr. Day’s warning. If you do not obey God’s warning, your loss will be far greater-you will lose eternal life in heaven.
ML-01/20/1991