When the ground is completely covered in snow, and all of the trees stand starkly bare against the gray sky, everything appears to be lifeless. No growth is visible. No fruit is being produced. No flowers are filling the spaces with color and fragrance. There seems to be no point in the season. Everything is dormant... in a state of rest. Ah! There is the point in the season. A state of rest.
It's only in that state of rest that these plants can better establish their root systems... pushing those roots deeper and deeper into the soil, which will then enable those plants to better withstand the heat and the drought to come in the hot Arkansas summer ahead. None of the plants' valuable energy is being used on outward and visible growth. It's being carefully conserved and rationed and used to make a sturdier and healthier and more vigorous plant. That is the kind of plant that can be most useful in the seasons to come. That is the plant that will bear more fruit and display more beautiful, fragrant blooms, and provide shade for the garden visitor and shelter for the garden inhabitants.
Unlike these plants, rest is not forced upon humans by a change in season or weather. We must choose to rest. In our hurried and busy world, rest is viewed more as a luxury than a necessity. Choosing to rest is choosing to be obedient. Choosing to rest is choosing to let God grow us and strengthen us in order that we may accomplish His purpose for us. Choosing to rest takes work and planning. Rest is the only commandment where God actually set an example for us. He showed us how to rest. On the seventh day God rested. Not because He was tired from His work, but because He wanted to stress the importance of rest to us. Make an effort... choose to rest.
"Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience." Hebrews 4:11
No comments:
Post a Comment