Driving through Edgewood after my tuesday morning bible study last February, I came upon a house that had a very unusual tree in its yard. Now February in Texas is not like February in other parts of the country...Spring has sprung by then and trees are just beginning to flower. Well the tree in this yard had hundreds of bright red flowers all of over it. It was shocking in its abundance and brilliance. Seen from down the street it was a sight to behold!
But as I neared the house a transformation of that brilliance occurred....those buds were nothing more than cheap plastic flowers that the homeowner had painstakingly wired to each branch. She was READY for spring to come and it was coming on her schedule. I grinned as I drove by.
But as always, the Lord had a bigger lesson for me in those plastic flowers. He showed me that before the Holy Spirit awakens our spirit, we're like that lifeless tree waiting to bloom. We're dead things trying to give the illusion of life by wiring red plastic flowers to our limbs. Paul, in his letter to the Phillipians, tells us that no one had more to boast about in their life than he. He was a Jew among Jews, a Zealot among the Zealous, but he counts it all as nothing more than filthy rags in which he clothed his dead body. His boasts were nothing more than cheap plastic flowers that he tried to use to convince himself, and those around him, that he was alive.
What filthy rags and cheap plastic flowers are you using to seem "alive"?
Lord,
You tell us in your Word that we were once dead because of our sins, but now we are alive in Christ. Thank you that we no longer have to appear to be alive, that through Christ we can truly live. Help us to see what filthy rags we still cling to!
Amen
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