A tree is a tree

Somewhere in the deep woods, far away from human eyes, a seed falls to the ground. It's shell breaks open and tiny roots begin to work their way downward into the earth. A small shoot sprouts upward toward the sky. It appears to be rather insignificant when compared to the large trees surrounding it, but it grows just the same. It doesn't compare itself to others. It simply does what it's supposed to do. It grows.
   Over the course of many years, it becomes a mighty tree. Within it, countless creatures find a home. The birds of the air build their nests on it's branches. Spiders build their webs in the dark corners. Storms come and go. Some are exceedingly violent, others bring nothing more than a gentle, refreshing rain. Whatever the case, the creatures that have made this tree their home find comfort, safety and shelter in it.
   After living and growing strong for 75 years, a storm much stronger than the tree uproots it and sends it crashing to the ground. One might think that it's story is over at this point, but it's not. It's stature and position at this point have changed dramatically, but it's purpose remains the same. It becomes a place of shelter and safety for different types of animals, all of which prefer to live in shelter at ground level. As it rots and sinks into the ground, coutless insects feed off of it. These insects are fed by it's rotting wood and bark. Many of these insects eventually become food for larger creatures, who then become food for even larger ones.
   Even beyond it's death, the tree lives on within these creatures. It's contribution to the world around it can be traced throughout eternity as one creature who benifitted from it's existence becomes of some benefit to the next generation of creatures that follows.
   In the movie "The Lion King," Disney's writers called this the circle of life. But in reality, this is God's sovreignty. Nothing is useless. Nothing is wasted. Everything serves it's purpose, and no matter how insignificant that purpose may appear to others, it has purpose nonetheless.
   As Bob has been speaking on Psalm 121, a major theme he was following is that our lives begin the day we are born, and continue throughout eternity. The amount of time we spend here on earth does not determine the extent of the contribution we will make to the world around us. We will all make some sort of a contribution, be it intentiional or not.
   We will all pass from this earth at some point, but we will also live on for all eternity. While we're here on earth, the most valuable thing we can do is to keep an eternal perspective. To live for the God who gave us life, knowing full well that if we know Him, we will spend eternity with Him. The beauty of this is that if we keep this perspective, the memories of who we were while on this earth will also live on forever. Just like the tree in the above example, those who never knew of us will benefit from our being here. What we say to others and what we do for others can literally change the course of their lives. We can feed them, shelter them, and protect them from the storms in their lives. In doing so, we can cause them to also gain an eternal perspective, within which they will do the same for others.
   It's hard for us to see to whole picture when looking at our lives. Just like the tree, we see the sun rise and we see the sun set every day. We reach to the sky, wanting to grow as much as possible. We dig our roots deep into what we know will give us stability. But God see's the entire picture from start to finish. From the moment the seed falls to the ground until the last living creature is fed after it's falling, He knows it's purpose. From the moment we take our first breath until the last person alive benefits from what we've done here, God knows our purpose as well. He has placed each and every one of us on this earth for His purpose. His purpose is that we might know Him and spend eternity with Him, while living our lives in ways that cause those around us to see Him through us, and know Him also.
   Living our lives with this type of eternal perspective changes how we look at everything, and free's us up to live life to it's fullest, with no fear of how soon we might be called away. To live life abundantly, with a hope that doesn't die with our earthly bodies, but which instead lives on for all etenity.