New Zealand is a very beautiful country, and we are so blest to live here. While we don’t have any really old historic buildings like many other parts of the world, we do have some of the oldest living trees. A couple of weeks ago, Keith and I went away for a few days on a short road trip through Northland. We stopped in the middle of the Waipoua forest and were amazed as we looked at the huge Kauri tree called Tāne Mahuta which means God of the Forest in Te Reo.
It is a well chosen name. Tāne Mahuta is majestic, steadfast and a sustainer of life. Birds and other plants live in its canopy. You could almost say that it is unchanging as it only grows a couple of millimetres a year. While Tāne Mahuta is not eternal, it has been standing for over 2000 years and if it remains disease free could easily keep growing for another 1000 years. For a moment in its life, we stood there admiring this beautiful, majestic tree. I was reminded of Romans 1:19-20:
Since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
God reveals himself to us in his creation, it is plain to see, and we are without excuse. Tāne Mahuta is also simply being what it was made to be. We are also God’s creation, made in his image, to have a relationship with him and stand up tall for righteousness. Are we like Tāne Mahuta, still growing and simply being what God has made us to be?
May God bless you in the coming week
– Tin Tin