The Paradise Tree
She Reads Truth had an entry about how the first Christmas tree came to be. The story goes that in the 1500's the trees were called Paradise trees and were brought into the house on Christmas Eve and decorated with apples as a reminder of Adam and Eve's sin in the Garden and our need for a savior.
Thinking about our tree ornaments brought reflection. At one stage of life we had a "designer" tree with all the coordinating ornaments and frills. Each of our children had their own tree growing up (a tradition we started when we had two children, not seven) with their personal ornaments. Now I've gone back to a tree with more personalized ornaments, especially ones relating to the grandchildren. But after reading about the Paradise Tree, I've decided that I want our tree to tell the story of Jesus as much as a story of people who have gifted us lovely ornaments with sweet memories.
"Christ arrives right on time to make this happen. He didn't, and doesn't, wait for us to get ready. he presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready. And even if we hadn't been so weak, we wouldn't have known what to do anyway. We can understand someone dying for a person with dying for, and we can understand how someone good and noble could inspire us to selfless sacrifice. But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him." Romans 5:8
