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Finding Life Among the Living

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By design#860

I recently clipped a flowering branch off a tree in our yard.  I thought I could keep it blooming so that I could take a photo of it.  Within minutes, cut away from the branch and without water, it wilted.  The photo opportunity faded. The beauty of the branch was gone as the life it held evaporated. 

And so, it is with us.  Can we truly live if we are cut off from the vine?  If we are separated from God, where do we go to get life?  Where do we go to stay alive?  To have breath and to live in the splendor and truth of how we’ve been created?  

The blooms on the branch looked radiant while attached to the tree.  The collective display was grand, a picture of its purpose.  It reflected beauty, grace and God’s glory in nature.

Then I looked at the wilted branch I had collected and the flowers on it. They were dead.

In Luke 24:1-7, we read about the women who went to Jesus’ tomb and when they arrived, found the tomb empty.

…very early on Sunday morning the women went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared.  They found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance.  So they went in, but they didn’t find the body of the Lord Jesus.  As they stood there puzzled, two men suddenly appeared to them, clothed in dazzling robes. The women were terrified and bowed with their faces to the ground. Then the men asked, “Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive? He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! Remember what he told you back in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be betrayed into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and that he would rise again on the third day.”

And it struck me, how often do I look for life in things or places that are dead? 

How often am I seeking my identity in things that don’t bring life to me?  Yes, I love creating art, writing, reading, etc., but what of these things?  They are good things!  But if I don’t stay connected to the vine, if I don’t look to the Life Giver, there is no point to those things.  As I live connected to HIM, I can create and I can enjoy “things” as long as I remember that my identity is rooted in Christ.  In the Living Christ.

So, I pray I can stay connected.  Connected to the vine, to God who is the truth of my life.  That I may be a part of a collective picture, giving glory to Him who created the essence of who I am.  And living in the truth of HIS love for me.  This is where I find LIFE!  This is where you will find life!  

And I also pray I can catch myself drifting, looking for substance in dead things.  

Look around and you will find a reminder of God's love for you. The vision of the tree is my reminder to stay connected.  Receiving life to give life.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you,
you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.  John 15:5







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