Fallen Branches

Winter has tied to keep it’s hold on Northeastern Ohio, but I think the winds of spring have blown old man winter into next October or November. The winds the last few days have been gusting; I’ve felt the wind want to blow me over or push our van off the road. Yesterday I noticed two trees that could not withstand the force of the wind; uprooted they were lying on the ground where they had once offered shade.

The trees in my yard and neighborhood are all still standing, but I’ve noticed that scattered all around are twigs and even some branches that have broken off the tree. I find this to be true throughout the summer; each time I mow the yard there are always sticks to be picked up. The trees live on, but the fallen twigs and branches are only good for the fire.

• When its twigs are dry, they are broken off and women come and make fires with them. For this is a people without understanding; so their Maker has no compassion on them, and their Creator shows them no favor.
  Isaiah 27:11 (NIV)

The word of the Lord to Isaiah compares the spiritual condition of some people to that of twigs that are only good for kindling a fire. With no life in them they are broken from the tree and burned. Jesus used much the same imagery calling Himself the vine and his disciples as the branches; dead braches would be cut off and thrown into the fire while others would be trimmed to be even more fruitful (see John 15: 1-6).

Throughout the Bible the tree is often used as a symbol of spiritual life. The trunk can be thought of as the strength and stability God provides; from the roots the tree receives all the nourishment needed for life through the trunk. The branches often represent God’s people. Blown by the wind the branches can move back and forth; those that have rotted and dried up within often break off and fall to the ground.

As branches what is our spiritual condition today? God provides us with everything we need for spiritual health; God’s supply is not limited or cut off. Through His Holy Spirit, the scriptures, prayer and other believers there is nothing we lack unless we have shut ourselves off from the source.

Take time today to examine yourself as a branch. Are there healthy signs of life; is there evidence of God’s grace living within you? Or are you becoming a dried out branch in danger of dying and being broken off by the winds of adversity? Drink deeply today from the Lord before it is too late.