The Goolaba Tree

The Goolaba Tree

“He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither, and whatever he does shall prosper.”  Psalm 1:3

When I was a child my mother bought me a book and it was called ‘The Goolaba Tree’.  I have never forgotten that story.  As the years passed I tried finding the story, but have never saw it or heard of it again, so I will try to relate the story as I remember it.

There were two farmers, Farmer Brown and Farmer Smith, whose land met the other at the far end of the fields.  One day the farmers met at the end of their fields and neither knew who owned the land on the other side of a fence.  So they decided to walk into the woods a little ways.  They came to a small cleared area and in the middle of it grew a big tree.  As they both looked at the tree, they tried to figure out what kind of a tree it was.  The tree was covered with big round, red fruit which was not quite ripe enough to pick.  They agreed to meet at the tree in one week and in the meanwhile they would try to find out what king of a tree it was.

The next week the farmers met at the tree again.  Both were very excited because they had learned the tree was a Goolaba tree.  They also learned that the Goolaba tree was one of the rarest trees in the world and the fruit was most wonderful to eat.  However, it was only good for an hour on the day it was ripe.  They agreed that on that day the fruit was ripe, they would both meet at a certain time and share the fruit together.

That day, Farmer Brown rose up early and set out across the fields to meet Farmer Smith.  When Farmer Brown got to the tree, he could see that someone had already been there.  Then he looked a short distance away and there on the ground lay Farmer Smith with bright red juice running down his chin.  Farmer Brown ran to Farmer Smith and said to him, “How could you be so dishonest? We agreed to meet and pick the fruit at the same time.”

“I came at the time we agreed on and you came early; why did you do that”, Farmer Brown inquired?

Farmer Smith was moaning and groaning. “You told me today the fruit would be ripe and it wasn’t, so I ate it any way and I am so sick because the fruit was spoiled.”

Farmer Brown was so mad because Farmer Smith had told Farmer Brown the wrong time and so they never got to eat the wonderful fruit.  Just about then the fruit all died and the tree dried up and turned to dust never to bloom again.  The end.

The truth of that simple little story is that when people become dishonest, they will not gain anything, but when we honor God and do all things honestly, God will prosper us.  Just like it says in Psalm 1:3 whose leaf also shall not wither, and whatever he does shall prosper.”  God wants us to prosper, but he will not tolerate man’s dishonesty.

There are six things the Lord hates: “Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in running to evil”, Proverbs 6:16-18   The Lord will also not tolerate deceit.  We think we can be deceitful in business dealings and we don’t call it deceit.  Some will say, “Well it’s just part of business, but the truth is that we are not being honest and just use another name for it.

There is nothing gained when we sin.  When you are tempted to do something that’s not right, remember “The Goolaba Tree”.