Dr. Seuss wrote several children’s books including… The Cat In The Hat, Green Eggs And Ham, and How The Grinch Stole Christmas.  All three were made into TV programs I watched growing up.  There is another book he wrote I’d like to reflect upon today.  The Lorax (Click Here).

If you’re like me and don’t have time to watch the program, let me give you the short version.  The main character looks like a groundhog with a huge mustache (The Lorax).  He speaks for the truffula trees.  The story’s narrator, The Once-ler, sees the trees as a way to get rich.  He destroys the land, chopping down every tree, forcing the forest creatures to flee until only the Lorax is left.  Then he also leaves.  Years later, in relating the destruction of the last truffula tree to a boy, the chastened Once-ler says…

“And all that the Lorax left here in this mess was a small pile of rock, with just one word… UNLESS.  Whatever that means, well, I just couldn’t guess.  That was long, long ago.  But each day since that day I’ve sat here and worried and worried away.  Through the years, while my buildings have fallen apart, I’ve worried about it with all my heart.  But now, says the Once-ler, now that you’re here, the word of the Lorax seems perfectly clear.  UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better.  It’s not.” 

lorax  The lesson of The Lorax is about more than good stewardship of God’s creation, it suggests a Bible truth we might want to consider.  Let’s call it “The Lesson Of UNLESS.”

  UNLESS Christians (You, me… us) seek God with all our heart, we won’t find Him.

  UNLESS Christians (You, me… us) pray asking God to do His work among us it, it won’t get  done.

  UNLESS Christians (You, me, us) show people the Love of Jesus, they’ll never know what true love is.

  UNLESS Christians (You, me, us) tell the lost about Jesus, they’ll die in their unbelief and be seperated from God for eternity.

  UNLESS Christians (You, me, us) forgive, people will never see or understand God’s forgiveness.

  UNLESS Christians (You, me, us) live moral ethical lives of integrity, the world will sink further into selfishness.

  UNLESS Christians (You, me, us) build God’s kingdom on earth now, it will never be done.

  UNLESS….

  The thoughts that can follow “UNLESS” are unending.  Jesus gives every Christian a Gift, Call, & Passion for the purpose of participating in expanding His Kingdom.  As Casting Crowns sang in “If We Are The Body,” we need to be speaking for Jesus… Serving others… and carrying the Gospel to the world. 

  UNLESS WE (You, Me, US)… UNLESS WE fulfill our call, what do you think will happen?

Thus the lesson of UNLESS…