Occasionally on rural roads you’ll see a few plastic cones and a sign, ‘Hedge cutting in progress’.
Sure enough, a little further along you’ll find a tractor with a fearsome looking attachment to the rear giving the hedges a close trim.
It’s not just aesthetic, it’s highly practical for reasons of access and visibility. We need to see where we’re going and be able to get there and of course be able to check first if anything is coming the other way!
A story is told of one locality where a twisty junction was overshadowed by several large trees and the hedgerows hadn’t been trimmed in a while. Locals said it was a ‘deathtrap’ or ‘an accident waiting to happen’. Everyone thought someone should do something but no one did so the problem remained. In the narrow dimness some took the wrong road and others suffered ‘near misses’.
Eventually someone took it on themselves to get the trees and bushes all cut back and oh the difference! It was a talking point for miles around and the local newspaper even printed a picture with the headline, ‘New Light at the Crossroads!’
Now while practically and effectively that was true it wasn’t entirely accurate.
There was the same amount of light there’d always been at the crossroads, same sun in the same sky for the same number of hours. Just now that unhelpful stuff had been moved out of the way things were a lot clearer and brighter. You could see where you were going and take the right road safely with confidence.
In their place trees are a great thing, pleasant to look at and good for the planet the environmentalists tell us. But overshadowing a narrow junction not a good idea. And therein lies a lesson. Some might call it ‘feng shui’ or spring cleaning or simply common sense but sometimes we need to tidy some of the clutter in our lives so the light can shine more freely and we can better see the way we need to go.
The introduction to John’s Gospel in the New Testament speaks of Jesus Christ as the Son of God and the ‘Light’ coming into the world He helped create. Eyewitness John says Jesus brought ‘grace and truth’. His message of God’s saving mercy and kindness has brought clarity and direction to millions for some 2000 years now.
But, like dark hedges, often the world ignores this light or blocks it out with other stuff. Western countries have in recent generations been neglecting their Christian foundations. Schools teach the alternative doctrine of evolution, survival of the fittest, and society tragically becomes selfish and ruthless.
We get taken up with money or entertainment. Our life choices run contrary to Christ’s high standard. We choose ‘darkness’ over light because some of what we want and do is not good.
So our road gets overshadowed and hazardous. And people get confused and afraid.
The Bible predicts as much, that before the Lord returns there would be a ‘falling away’ and an ‘increase of wickedness’ but we still have a choice. What will we do in 2026? Do nothing and keep the crossroads dark and dangerous? Or actively bin the unnecessary gloom and choose the road of light and life, following Jesus?
Let’s trim those hedges. Choose Light.
Happy New Year!
Sure enough, a little further along you’ll find a tractor with a fearsome looking attachment to the rear giving the hedges a close trim.
It’s not just aesthetic, it’s highly practical for reasons of access and visibility. We need to see where we’re going and be able to get there and of course be able to check first if anything is coming the other way!
A story is told of one locality where a twisty junction was overshadowed by several large trees and the hedgerows hadn’t been trimmed in a while. Locals said it was a ‘deathtrap’ or ‘an accident waiting to happen’. Everyone thought someone should do something but no one did so the problem remained. In the narrow dimness some took the wrong road and others suffered ‘near misses’.
Eventually someone took it on themselves to get the trees and bushes all cut back and oh the difference! It was a talking point for miles around and the local newspaper even printed a picture with the headline, ‘New Light at the Crossroads!’
Now while practically and effectively that was true it wasn’t entirely accurate.
There was the same amount of light there’d always been at the crossroads, same sun in the same sky for the same number of hours. Just now that unhelpful stuff had been moved out of the way things were a lot clearer and brighter. You could see where you were going and take the right road safely with confidence.
In their place trees are a great thing, pleasant to look at and good for the planet the environmentalists tell us. But overshadowing a narrow junction not a good idea. And therein lies a lesson. Some might call it ‘feng shui’ or spring cleaning or simply common sense but sometimes we need to tidy some of the clutter in our lives so the light can shine more freely and we can better see the way we need to go.
The introduction to John’s Gospel in the New Testament speaks of Jesus Christ as the Son of God and the ‘Light’ coming into the world He helped create. Eyewitness John says Jesus brought ‘grace and truth’. His message of God’s saving mercy and kindness has brought clarity and direction to millions for some 2000 years now.
But, like dark hedges, often the world ignores this light or blocks it out with other stuff. Western countries have in recent generations been neglecting their Christian foundations. Schools teach the alternative doctrine of evolution, survival of the fittest, and society tragically becomes selfish and ruthless.
We get taken up with money or entertainment. Our life choices run contrary to Christ’s high standard. We choose ‘darkness’ over light because some of what we want and do is not good.
So our road gets overshadowed and hazardous. And people get confused and afraid.
The Bible predicts as much, that before the Lord returns there would be a ‘falling away’ and an ‘increase of wickedness’ but we still have a choice. What will we do in 2026? Do nothing and keep the crossroads dark and dangerous? Or actively bin the unnecessary gloom and choose the road of light and life, following Jesus?
Let’s trim those hedges. Choose Light.
Happy New Year!
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