MISLETOE!

Free image from PxHere

Our favorite Christmas parasite!!  How in the world did a parasite become our Christmas kissing plant?  Apparently, someone was hard-up for decorations and noticed the green foliage and white berries and brought it in their house. (And started kissing).  

Mistletoe is a parasitical plant that attacks living trees.  You’ve probably seen them attached high up in the canopy of deciduous trees, especially oak, their favorite host.  They send tiny roots into the cambium layer of the bark and siphon off water and nutrients slowly weakening the tree.  If it spreads profusely, the tree will eventually die, one limb at a time as the life is literally sucked out of it.

Does this make sense to you?  Here is a plant that relies on its host for its very life but sucks the life out of its host and kills itself.  I’m sure that Mistletoe is not aware of its fate, but you can be. There is a powerful lesson here.  If you work for a (host) company and skim money off the top or lie to the boss or customers and don’t do your very best, then you may end up helping to ‘kill’ a company that is your livelihood.  If on the other hand you give your (host) company your very best, then it is likely that you and your host will prosper.  You know what they say about flipping burgers.  If you do it well, God will promote you in due time.  Or, in the words of Snoop Dogg, “If it’s flipping hamburgers at McDonald’s, be the best hamburger flipper in the world. Whatever it is you do you have to master your craft.”

As the scripture from Colossians 3:23-24 says, ‘Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.’
And again in Galatians 6:7 and 9, ‘Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith’.

Keep up the good work and watch what God will do for you!

YOU MAY EVEN GET A KISS!

Published by Stu Branston

ABOUT ME! MRB is my professorial nickname. My for real name is Stu Branston, Professor Emeritus, Oral Roberts University. Received a Bachelor and Master of Fine Art in Sculpture from the University of Washington, Seattle. Was a member of the Foster White, the most prestigious gallery in Seattle at the time. One of my sculptures was included in the Collection of Northwest Artists. Won a competition to create and install a sculpture for the Bellevue College, Bellevue, Washington. The sculpture, ‘Psalm 61’, is painted, welded steel. It weighs 5 tons and is 20 feet tall. Was a youth pastor for 5 years. Taught art at Seattle Pacific University for 5 years. Taught art at Oral Roberts University for 26 years and served as Art Department Chairman for 20 years. Retired as Professor Emeritus, 2013. Love to write poetry and photograph this amazing world we live in!

One thought on “MISLETOE!”

  1. it’s amazing how something that’s pretty and pleasant to look at can be a parasite! How many things in our lives look pleasant and yet are parasitic on our health! Thank you lord for daily wisdom!

    kb

    Like

Leave a Reply