A couple of years ago, our family was removing a dead tree that had fallen in my in-laws’ yard. My brother-in-law cut off a slice of wood that was about 2 inches thick and a foot in diameter. The piece had an interesting pattern in the wood, and my wife wanted to keep it, hoping to turn it into something crafty or artsy.

So we took the wood home with us and kept it in our garage, where it stayed until we moved about a year ago. In the moving process, we found that the slice of wood fit well under the car seat, so that’s where we put it. And that’s where it still is, out of sight and out of mind.

The wood goes with us everywhere we go, so it has travelled a lot of miles in the past year. It never bothers us, but it never contributes anything to our lives either. It’s just there–dead wood.

I hope you aren’t the dead wood in your church. Don’t be satisfied to merely go along for the ride. Make a meaningful contribution to your church. Allow God to make something beautiful of your life.