New Life

When we moved here a couple of months ago I brought a plant with that had been outside in our yard. It was beautiful, big red flowers, healthy green leafs, and it was starting to grow these long vines. So I bought a new pot for it so it would have all the room it needed to remain healthy and continue growing. It looked so good but it was accidentally left outside for a couple of hours and the cold air had wrapped its hands around its lively body. Within a few days all the branches became dark and the once green leafs, full of life, had started to turn brown and wither. All hope was lost, the beauty was gone and it was time to throw it away.

I was putting off tossing this dead plant out with the trash, because that is what I do(procrastinate). As I glanced at it yesterday I thought I saw something green, which is hard to tell when you are partially color blind like myself. When I got a closer look I noticed one big green leaf and a single vine growing out of the center of the plant, it's ALIVE.

Rising out of the heart of this plant was a new beginning. As the outside looked dead and hopeless, buried under the surface of dirt was life, the beauty that once shown never left but was just hidden for a short time. As we are in the season of Lent, I keep one eye looking ahead to the glorious resurrection that we await when we get to celebrate what once seemed hopeless when the beauty of Christ was hidden under a pile of dirt.

I can't help but wonder what parts of my life must die so that new life may begin. Just because something looks healthy and good doesn't mean it is and maybe, just maybe, a little pruning needs to be done. 
Mark 8:35
^"For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.