Evergreen

Fall and spring, equally, are my favorite seasons.  Moderate temperatures.  Transitioning landscapes. 

Fall trees, at times, barren.  Spring trees, at times, blooming.  Their trees, at all times, benevolent.  Using their limbs like the hands of a clock, they unwaveringly tell earth’s time and mark her seasons. 

Fall back.  Deciduous. 

When I saw this tree initially—earnest and exposed—I simultaneously saw the lives of a daughter and her mother.  A family tree, of sorts.  There, by the side of the road, I saw this gnarly juxtaposition of my life and my mom’s death.  Leaves fallen.  Branches bare.  My life’s yield, like it, I thought, was much too moderate.  And this tree’s empty arms, like my mom’s, were still raised, but they no longer carried their fruit or held their leaves.  All that was evident of its life, of her life, had been released.  Its core, her convictions, still stood structured and strong.  The scenery on the road, her road, of life was transitioning to… 

Evergreen.  Spring forward.

Unlike deciduous trees, which lose their leaves and fruit each fall, Earth’s evergreen trees aren’t noticeably marked by the change in season.  They too, fulfilling the cycle of life, lose their leaves.  But because it’s done individually, the tree never has bare branches.  It is always covered.  It is always green.  It is always full.  Likewise, my mom, now in Heaven, where “In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.”  Eternal evergreen.  No more dying there.   

Who, but God, in one contrasting breath, could transform her from deciduous to evergreen?

There’s one tree, though, that defied earth’s clock.  There’s one tree that defined time.  There’s one tree that predestined the ages.  There’s one tree that’s The Cross.  Christ, “Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness….”  Standing between the deciduous of Genesis and the evergreen of Revelation—is Calvary.  God, the Father, through His Son, Jesus, nailed our Fall(en), deciduous nature to an old rugged cross so that we could have a right to the tree of life.  The Light crucified to redeem the darkness.  (Daylight) Saving time.

Who, but God, in one contrasting breath, could transform humanity from death to life?    

The Cross.  Nothing from this tree is forbidden.  The fruit born from it—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control—always remains. 

As we approach Easter, it’s easy for my perspective of the Cross to only be that of acceptance of Jesus and entrance to Heaven.  But I’m learning to not only celebrate the Cross, but most importantly, to live it.  To, in every situation, market the fruit from the tree of sacrifice.  When I’m provoked—bear peace.  When I’m misrepresented—bear gentleness.  When I’m unfulfilled—bear patience.  When I’m uncertain—bear joy.  When I’m frustrated—bear kindness.  When I’m embittered—bear goodness.  When I’m worried—bear faithfulness.  When I’m tempted—bear self-control.  When I’m wronged—bear love. 

Over and over and over again. 

As a believer, my life, my tree, should be known by the fruit that it bears. 

In the Garden of Eden, Eve shared her fruit.  But in my life, I wonder, what am I sharing?  What about you?  I’ve spent so much time, so many seasons, assessing fruitfulness by the quantity of temporary, external things instead of by the quality of enduring, internal truths.  So often, too often, I fail to see the life-sustaining, eternal fruit that God’s trying to produce in me through The Cross.  I don’t want to make assumptions, but you probably do too.                    

As we expectantly anticipate the rebirth of Spring and the miracle of Resurrection, let’s remember that, through every season of life, it’s because of the red (death) that we can access the green (life)…forever. 

PRINCIPLE: “Those who trust in their riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf.” – Proverbs 11:28