It was supposed to rain last night…
It snowed instead.
Covering the trees and bushes …
Turning them into an early Christmas landscape.
Even the little stick of a tree the village planted just yesterday…
When the grass was still green…
When it seemed possible new plantings could grow on their own…
Today the little tree stands forlorn and snow covered…
It will need help to get started…
Water in the spring…
Fertilizer…
For its roots to poke out of the brown burlap bag that covers them…
And dig deep into the soil…
And then one day… it will be a big tree…
Its canopy shading the street and the yard…
Maybe we are like the tree…
Needing nourishment from beyond ourselves…
Seeking to be…
Like a tree planted by streams of water… Psalm 1:3
Recognizing that we are nothing on our own…
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5
Striving to be…
…rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. Colossians 2:7
Looking to the one path to the strength and mercy and grace and love of God…
For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, 1 Timothy 2:5
Leaving behind our old life of separation from God…
Coming alive in Christ…
…if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17
Living a new life rooted in the love and grace of God…
But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. Ephesians 2:4-5
