It's that time of year. Fall in full swing and Winter is knocking on the door. Leaves are changing colors and the lawn is covered in leaves. It is a somewhat comical to watch someone rake leaves and more fall to the ground either while is raking or an hour later. There are two ways to deal with that if you don't want to rake then rake then rake.
One is to let all the leaves fall to the ground and then work to rake them up. If you have a big tree or lots of trees, then the task could amount to incredibly sore arms and blisters on your palms. Perhaps even a bad case of chapped lips.
Another is to cut the tree down and rake up the mess. It's a big option, but if you want to stop raking leaves, then that's a good option. After all, the tree is alive. It isn't death. It just drops off its dead products to the ground. So that's the problem. It is a healthy tree, so why cut it down? It's thriving, just going through a period where it sheds death every five minutes. Your tree could be nice. It could provide fun with a swing or a fort. Or it could provide relief from the heat of the day.
So the question rises: what do we dislike the most about the situation? Is raking really all that bad? Sure it looks bad to have leaves on our lawn; sure it is a pain to rake up the mess; sure we could even bear the marks in our hands where we have labored endlessly. But is it that bad? Is it bad enough to cut down that maple so we don't have to rake again?
We all have trees in our lives that shed leaves of death and decay. Trees of lust and of hatred and of power and of idolatry. They seem to be great. When they're in their ideal stage, we have a shade from the pressures of the day. We also have a fun escape to withdraw from what we fight for day in and out and just play 'house' in the treehouse. But then seasons change. Our trees go from looking green and lush to brown and crackly. One by one the leaves fall, crashing on us the shade of our rest. Now we have dead leaves laying around us that need removing. So we haul out the rake and scrape at our lawns trying to rid ourselves of the disgrace. Days are spent, but the leaves keep coming.
So what do we do? People watch as we foolishly rake up our mess in the midst of the falling down of our mistaken refuge. If we just stop and stare and let the products of death sprinkle around us, then we must endure the glares of our neighbors for having such an unkempt life. Once we get to the point where the leaves are on the yard, we must fight against massive layers of leaves, brisk winds.
Then our other option is to chop the tree down. But we remember the fun. We remember the relief. We remember what it felt like just to ignore the world and bask in our alter-reality. Can we really go through with that? What happens when the sun shines brightly and we must sit under the pounding rays and experience sunburns? What happens when we come home from a stressful day and we have no swing to allow the wind to soothe our head and heart?
That's when Christ sprouts up through the ground. He becomes our True Vine. He becomes the source of our shade and shelter and comfort and rest. He is the one we can latch onto and never die. He is the one we can gain energy and by Him our fruits can be produced in us. No longer is death on the ground by our roots, but we have fruit ripened all around us where people can see and even taste to discover that God is good and is faithful. We can't produce those fruits; we are just branches. But God produces them in us when we attach ourselves to His love and grace and mercy.
So let us stop raking in a leaf storm and start chopping our trees down. God gives us the tools. God gives us the strength. Once we cut the tree down, then we ought to burn the roots. Let's rake the leaves onto the root system and let the fire of God devour our dead life of sin. And then, when all is destroyed and we stand under the face of the sun, may we turn to the True Vine and abide in Him. Then watch as the snow falls all around us as our lawn and lives become as pure and white as snow because Christ love courses through our veins, because God's grace strengthens us day by day, because we have fruit of righteousness and of life because Christ produces them in us.
John 15
Romans 6
Psalm 1
One is to let all the leaves fall to the ground and then work to rake them up. If you have a big tree or lots of trees, then the task could amount to incredibly sore arms and blisters on your palms. Perhaps even a bad case of chapped lips.
Another is to cut the tree down and rake up the mess. It's a big option, but if you want to stop raking leaves, then that's a good option. After all, the tree is alive. It isn't death. It just drops off its dead products to the ground. So that's the problem. It is a healthy tree, so why cut it down? It's thriving, just going through a period where it sheds death every five minutes. Your tree could be nice. It could provide fun with a swing or a fort. Or it could provide relief from the heat of the day.
So the question rises: what do we dislike the most about the situation? Is raking really all that bad? Sure it looks bad to have leaves on our lawn; sure it is a pain to rake up the mess; sure we could even bear the marks in our hands where we have labored endlessly. But is it that bad? Is it bad enough to cut down that maple so we don't have to rake again?
We all have trees in our lives that shed leaves of death and decay. Trees of lust and of hatred and of power and of idolatry. They seem to be great. When they're in their ideal stage, we have a shade from the pressures of the day. We also have a fun escape to withdraw from what we fight for day in and out and just play 'house' in the treehouse. But then seasons change. Our trees go from looking green and lush to brown and crackly. One by one the leaves fall, crashing on us the shade of our rest. Now we have dead leaves laying around us that need removing. So we haul out the rake and scrape at our lawns trying to rid ourselves of the disgrace. Days are spent, but the leaves keep coming.
So what do we do? People watch as we foolishly rake up our mess in the midst of the falling down of our mistaken refuge. If we just stop and stare and let the products of death sprinkle around us, then we must endure the glares of our neighbors for having such an unkempt life. Once we get to the point where the leaves are on the yard, we must fight against massive layers of leaves, brisk winds.
Then our other option is to chop the tree down. But we remember the fun. We remember the relief. We remember what it felt like just to ignore the world and bask in our alter-reality. Can we really go through with that? What happens when the sun shines brightly and we must sit under the pounding rays and experience sunburns? What happens when we come home from a stressful day and we have no swing to allow the wind to soothe our head and heart?
That's when Christ sprouts up through the ground. He becomes our True Vine. He becomes the source of our shade and shelter and comfort and rest. He is the one we can latch onto and never die. He is the one we can gain energy and by Him our fruits can be produced in us. No longer is death on the ground by our roots, but we have fruit ripened all around us where people can see and even taste to discover that God is good and is faithful. We can't produce those fruits; we are just branches. But God produces them in us when we attach ourselves to His love and grace and mercy.
So let us stop raking in a leaf storm and start chopping our trees down. God gives us the tools. God gives us the strength. Once we cut the tree down, then we ought to burn the roots. Let's rake the leaves onto the root system and let the fire of God devour our dead life of sin. And then, when all is destroyed and we stand under the face of the sun, may we turn to the True Vine and abide in Him. Then watch as the snow falls all around us as our lawn and lives become as pure and white as snow because Christ love courses through our veins, because God's grace strengthens us day by day, because we have fruit of righteousness and of life because Christ produces them in us.
John 15
Romans 6
Psalm 1
No comments:
Post a Comment