Friday, 04 April 2008
Death to LIFE
John 5:24 says “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. Don’t you find this to be simply amazing? To think that you and I can cross over from eternal death to eternal life. This powerful verse was brought to life for me this week in a very special way all because of a small tree.
Abby and I have a small tree that we got last summer. It is still in a pot and we are hoping to be able to plant it later this year. However, this past fall in my efforts to keep it alive, I killed it. A cold front was coming in, so I moved the tree into our garage. My intentions were to put it in at night and then out in the sun during the day. On the second day I forgot to put it back out and I left town for three days. That tree sat in our dark garage without any light or care for four days. The leaves all fell off and it looked dead. About three weeks later I messed up again. This time I forgot to bring it in and for two nights the tree was out in the freezing temperatures. Now it was really dead. I moved it to the back yard with every intention of watering it, but I forgot and it went through some of the driest, coldest days of the year, almost two full months without any water. I broke off one of its small, fragile branches only to find that our tree was dry, and dead. Abby said we should just throw it away, and I agreed but not wanting to admit that I didn’t have a green thumb and had failed to take care of the tree, I said, “lets just wait and see what happens.” Two days ago, Abby came in from work and with an exited voice said, “did you see the tree?!” “No,” I replied. She said “it has a bud on one of the branches!” Today every single branch is blooming with life again. In some amazing way God unleashed the power of spring and brought our small, dead tree back to life again.
Have you ever felt like this tree? Have you been in the dark and know what it is like to struggle with depression, addiction, pain, loss, or brokenness? Do you know what it is like to be forgotten about and left in the darkness of life? Or have you spent too many nights out in the cold, sinful world in which we live? Do you know what it is like to walk through a desert, and dry up emotionally, spiritually, and mentally? Can you relate to this tree? I can and if we are all honest we have all been like this tree. We are not sinners because we sin; we sin because we are sinners. We are born that way, and our world has been invaded by evil and sin. As a result we all know what it is like to be this tree. Our sin has taken us into the darkness, left us out in the cold, and caused us to dry up and die. The Bible even says that the result of sin is death. The good news is, just like God unleashed the power of spring to revive the tree, He will unleash the power of the Blood of Jesus to bring you back to life again if you will let him.
I am convinced that there is nothing in this world God cannot revive and bring back to life. I take Jesus at His word and I believe he can restore anything if we will allow him to. Is it a friendship, or your relationship with your spouse that has been in the darkness to long? Has your marriage been dry and cold for years? Is there someone you know that appears to be so dead you think their condition is hopeless? Keep praying, keep watering, fertilizing, and caring for whatever it is. I can tell you from personal experience, the joy you will feel when you see that first bud come to life. I could give you hundreds of examples but let me just share one. I had a friend in college who had spent her life in the cold, dry, darkness of this world. Then one day she allowed God to unleash His power of life and a bud came to life. Today she is a missionary with fruit hanging down off every branch. Don’t give up! Don’t throw it all away! Don’t stop! Whatever it is in the hands of a loving, mighty, powerful God it can cross over from death to life. The Bible says he can make all things new! Turn it over to Him and allow his power to be unleashed.
