It is that time of year – time to clean out the old and trim off the dead stalks and leaves so that new growth can flourish. I LOVE this time of year! For some people I know it just means more work – but for those of us who truly love gardening – it is the foretaste of things to come. Each time I trim off last year’s old dead growth from a plant it creates in me an anticipation of the new growth to come.
What once appeared dead will come alive!
As I trim off the refuse, I put it in the wheelbarrow and then dump it over the bank. We have a steep bank next to our lower driveway and these trimmings, dead branches, and leaves are out of sight and create a home for little woodland critters. As I was dumping a load Friday I noticed a lonely, lovely bloom that had pushed up through the refuse pile. How in the world did it grow there? It is not a nurturing environment at all.
It made me think about the plants, dreams, ideas, and even people I have given up on – “thrown away” because I no longer need them or feel like anything good will come of them.
I am SO thankful God has never given up on me!
We are studying Isaiah in our Women’s Community Bible Study and these verses are an expression of the hope (a new shoot) that will come from an “old stump”.
Isaiah 11:1-3
Out of the stump of David’s family will grow a shoot—
yes, a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root.
2 And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
3 He will delight in obeying the Lord.
He will not judge by appearance
nor make a decision based on hearsay.
Most Bible scholars believe that this refers to Jesus – I agree. God has taken us from the refuse pile of this world and given us new life through Jesus. What appeared dead now has new life!
I pray that we can share this grace we have received from Jesus with others. Not judging by appearance or hearsay (verse 3) but with the Spirit of wisdom and understanding. Just as we should not give up on others, we should not give up on ourselves.
In My Garden With God #30
Our Father's Daughters 