Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
James 4:7-10
In 1772, Johann Forster set sail on the HMS Resolution with Captain James Cook with the assignment of identifying and categorizing new plant species they would encounter on their trip around the world. Among the many things Forster found was a slender pine tree he classified as Araucaria columnaris, which is better known as the Cook pine, on what is now called New Caledonia. The tree proved to be popular and was often used in landscaping projects around the world.
The Cook pine has a unique feature. No matter where it is planted, it always leans toward the equator. In the Southern Hemisphere it leans to the north, while in the Northern Hemisphere it leans southward. Only trees planted very close to the equator stand straight. The further away from the equator they grow, the more pronounced the lean of the Cook pine is.
No matter how hard the world tries to pull us away from God, the inclination of our hearts should always be to draw closer to Him. The more that we seek His face and spend time in His Word, the more our hearts will be filled with love for Him, and the more our lives will reflect His grace and glory to those around us.
The challenges of this life are not something we can face and overcome alone. We must have God’s power and presence for our lives to be what they should. The equator is fixed, and no matter how much the Cook pine leans toward it, it never moves. But when we lean toward God, drawing closer to Him, He draws closer to us. The depth of our fellowship with Him is determined by the lean of our hearts.
