Changed360

Recently my girls and I were enjoying a warm and breezy spring day, we spotted some wild flowers and that began our quest for a small bouquet. We ventured into the woods for some dainty but bright red flowers, then we found a yellow flower, and I was able to reach some low lying blooms on a dogwood. We went inside and carefully placed the blooms inside a vase with some water. It was a pretty little display of the life in bloom outdoors. It lasted all of 24 hours and that is probably a stretch. Looking at these wilting blooms made me think about something deeper; spiritual life, for myself, or any Christ follower. I felt like I was looking at a visual representation of John 15: 1-8 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit He takes away, and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be my disciples.” The flowers I had sitting on my kitchen counter were once full of life but now had an appearance of death taking them over. It’s easy to see why, we took them from their source of life. If we as Christ followers are not abiding in Christ the same thing will occur to us, we become spiritually malnourished. We try to band aide what is occurring in us with different “supplements” that look like life. Like sticking flowers in a vase of water, these supplements are sure to only provide a short term fix. There is no supplement for Jesus Christ! We all fall into the trap sometimes of trying to find satisfaction, rest, hope, enjoyment, etc. from the things of this world. But anything we turn to in place of God will never give us the nutrients we need. There is nothing wrong with enjoying or looking forward to things but anything other than Christ that we look to get that nutrient from will leave us depleted. It is vital for Christ followers to seek HIM, have personal relationship with HIM, abide in HIM. It is all about Jesus, HE is the source of life that prunes and produces blooms! GROW in His loving grace and mercy! We will never be perfect on this side of things. However, if we humbly seek to abide in HIM we will have the source of life that cannot ever be depleted. Only Jesus satisfies our thirsty souls.

– Faith