Jude 1:12-13 — These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.

As Myra and I did our devotions this morning, she commented that there seem to be more and more criminal outrages happening in the world about us, and fewer and fewer islands of decency. I couldn’t disagree, and “global warming” popped into my mind.
Now I don’t want to get into any eco-controversies! I’m just drawing an analogy between the idea of an ever-warming climate and an increasingly sinful world.
It seems to me that just as it is said that an increasing global temperature cause the waters to rise and land to be eroded, so an increasingly “hot” moral climate has caused the tide of sin to rise and the islands of decency to be eroded.
So what are we to do? I think we need to plant some trees! O.K., not literal trees … but see what you think of this.
Our moral atmosphere is being choked by the exhaust gases of a million sinful activities — many of them “industrialized” and generating a lot of money for a lot of people. So I say we need to breathe some pure spiritual oxygen out, and there’s nothing better for creating oxygen than trees!
So how do we go about it, this planting of trees? It’s a process that needs to be carefully followed.
First, you have to pick your time. Planting seeds or saplings needs to be done at the right time … which is to say that there are times when the seed of the gospel will be sown on barren ground!
Next, you have to prepare the ground. It is possible to witness to a complete stranger, all unprepared. It’s much more likely though that somebody who already knows that you are interested in them and care for them will be receptive to the seeds!
It’s not just the ground that needs preparing. The tree needs preparing too. Mostly, that means choosing the right specimen — or in our case the right scripture — for where the ground is prepared.
When it comes to the actual planting, there needs to be the right combination of gentleness and firmness … the planting has to go just deep enough!
Afterwards, of course, there needs to be feeding and watering. Here’s a bit of good news. If the planting is successful the feeding will come from many sources, and the Holy Spirit will take care of the watering!
So that’s my plan. If we plant trees, we’ll have more oxygen. More oxygen will help us clean up the atmosphere — and then more of us will stand on solid rock, and the tide of sin will be rolled back, and the moral climate will cool down!