Sand Mountain Sermonette 87
Genesis 2:9; Genesis 2:17
Sand Mountain Sermonette 87
Albertville’s Dennis the Menace
“Out of the ground the Lord caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” Genesis 2:9
I love that old television series, Dennis the Menace-the series I grew up watching! Ol’ Dennis was always getting into trouble with his next-door neighbor, Mr. Wilson. But what if I were to tell you of my Papaw Mabrey (Mr. Wilson) who lived next to neighbor to Albertville’s version of Dennis the Menace? Next door to Papaw and Mamaw Mabrey lived a young boy by the name of Ronnie. His parents, J.C. and Betty , were not only good friends with my grandparents, but also with my dad and mom. But the truth is, Ronnie was a Dennis.
For one thing, he took the mower blade off his dad’s riding lawnmower and drove it around his yard like a “go-kart,” something my grandad Mabrey didn’t appreciate. But here’s the clincher. For several days Ronnie had taken the notion to mess with Papaw and Mamaw’s beautiful flower garden located directly in front of their house. Well, one day Ronnie was at it again. He had just gotten home after being dropped off from school on the bus. Immediately, he walked across Papaw’s front yard on his way to the home on the other side of Papaw’s house, and as he did, he reached down and grabbed the heads off several flowers as he passed by.
Now Papaw had been watching for several days through the sheer curtains that covered his three long front picture windows. So, he came up with a plan. Later that afternoon when Ronnie was in his home from the night. Papaw walked down behind his house to his holly and pulled off a few of its sharp pointed leaves carefully in his hand. Then he walked around to the front of his house and strategically placed those holly leaves in some of the flowers. The next dad Papaw got a kick out seeing Ronnie jump off the school bus and head towards his flowers. However, when Ronnie reached down and grabbed a hand full of flowers this time, he immediately jerked his hand back, looked both ways, and then put his fingers in his mouth to sooth the pain. After that, Ronnie never bothered Papaw flowers again!
Genesis Three record Eve’s plucking off the forbidden fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and evil-the one tree; the only tree, God had told Adam and Eve not to eat of for in the day they broke God’s command, they would surely die (Genesis 2:17). But note the other tree in the Garden: The Tree of Life. I’m so thankful that we are given new and eternal life in Christ! Due to our fallen state, our nature is that of sin and destruction. Malice stings! A controlling and mean-spirited tongue stings! Betrayal and abandonment sting! But, because the Rose of Sharon and the Lilly of Valley allowed Himself to be mutilated on a Roman cross, the way for you and me to be forgiven and reconciled to God has been made as well as the makings for a new way of living—daily conformed to Christ’s image!
Pastor Louie