CDPunt(igam) Writes

There once was a boy who wanted to sit in the shade of a fine tree and play games. He planted a seed. There in the quiet darkness of soil, he gave it all the good things it needed to grow, but still it remained a seed. Then one day, after many days of waiting for his shade tree to appear, something changed. Once, where there was bare ground, a small shoot appeared. Still, the boy was impatient. The tiny shoot had no leaves and so he gave it all the good things it needed and he waited. One day, a leaf appeared, then another. It wasn’t enough shade for the boy to play in and besides; he was getting tired of play as he grew in years. The tree continued to grow. The boy, finding himself a man, went off to war and when he came home, he found that the seed had grown into a tree. He was still disappointed because it wasn’t enough shade to rest in. The boy married and had children. When his children had children, he remembered his desire to sit in the shade of a tree. He went and found that old seed that he’d planted. When he found it, he sat in its shade and watched the children play, seeing what he’d desired finally fulfilled.

This story is based on Jeremiah 33: 14-16

“ ‘The days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will fulfill the good promise I made to the people of Israel and Judah. “ ‘In those days and at that time I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David’s line; he will do what is just and right in the land. In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. This is the name by which it will be called: The LORD Our Righteous Savior.’

NIV: New International Version