Signs if LIFE
There’s a tree outside my window that is in full bloom. When I pulled her out of the woods about eight year ago, I had my doubts she would survive. The rootball was nearly nonexistent from my bullishness in digging her up, but I thought I would take a shot. I planted the sapling with a trunk less than one-inch in diameter.
Look at her now! Her trunk is over eight inches thick, and she is fully adorned with the plume that gives her the name. My Redbud is alive, thriving, and fruitful! She is absolutely beautiful.
Two properties over, in the yard of the dentist’s office, there resides a massive Redbud with an enormous gnarly two foot trunk that is incredibly old. This Queen of Main Street, ancient as she is, is still alive, thriving, and fruitful. I am also convinced that she is likely the progenitor of my girl.
As walk around the 1.7 acres of the property where I live, I found no fewer than 30 redbuds, seedlings to saplings and one mature tree, all in glorious bloom. These are likely the offspring of the Grande Dame, and you can’t miss her colorful family living amidst the sea of green neighbors.
There is seedling and sapling that now reside on either side of my garage. I am convinced that they originated from my beautiful young Princess who has become one of the largest Redbuds in the neighborhood surrounding the Grande Dame on the dentist office lawn.
Do we as individual Christians, or churches for that matter, show fruitfulness like these redbuds? Are we alive, thriving, and fruitful? Do we stand out amongst a world that prefers to be green with hate, envy, jealousy, greed, enmity, strife, anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, idolatry, sensuality,, and so so much more?
In a month, all the Redbuds in my neighborhood will have leaves shaped like this!
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control… Galatians 5:22-23
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