Deceptive Beauty

"Oh look, mistletoe!" exclaimed Cassady. "We'll have mistletoe for Christmas and New Years."

"We may also have a dead tree in a few years," her dad said, shaking his head.

"Why?" Cassady asked in surprise. "Does mistletoe hurt a tree?"

"You bet it does," her dad said. "It's a deadly parasite. It grows into the tree and sucks out the nutrients and water."

Cassady looked puzzled. "Is that what 'a deadly parasite' means?"

"Yes," said her dad. "Mistletoe attaches itself to the tree and sooner or later weakens the tree so much that the tree may die. Scientists call it the 'tree thief.'"

"Wow!" Cassady said frowning up at the mistletoe. "I didn't know that. It looks so pretty with its white berries and soft, green leaves."

"And we make it special when we tie it up with a red bow at Christmas," her dad added.

He put his arm around his daughter's shoulders. "Mistletoe is one of God's nature lessons," he said. "This one warns us not to be decieved. Sin looks good, too. It looks like fun and excitement, and people make it more attractive by encouraging it. Lots of folks are fooled. They find out too late that sin can destroy families just like mistletoe destroys trees."

"I wish bad things were ugly and smelled bad," Cassady said. "Then I wouldn't be fooled."

Her dad laughed. "Yes, it would be nice if everything came with a label."

Cassady scrunched up her face. "Can you get rid of that mistletoe so it won't kill our tree?"

"Yes, her dad said. "I'll cut it out of the tree."

Cassady watched as her dad cut out the mistletoe. "It's too bad that something so pretty has to be so bad."

Dad nodded. "Just remember Satan is a destroyer even when his temptations look good. Just like mistletoe, his real nature never changes. We need to be sure he doesn't deceive us."
Paulita