Dried Roses

Almost two months ago my brother-in-law gave me some beautiful roses for my birthday. Just like the ones on the right. Absolutely beautiful. It made me sad to think of just throwing them away, so I hung them from a hook in the ceiling, tied a bow around them and there they hang still.

This morning my 4-year-old, MD, asked why I "died" the flowers. I explained that the roses had started dying the second that they were severed from the rose bush, and only stay alive-looking for a short time. MD asked then why we couldn't replant the flowers in the dirt after they'd been cut, in order to keep them alive longer. So I told him that the roots are what get the water and nutrients from the dirt and after it's cut, there are no roots and the flowers would still die.

Can you see the Biblical truth I received from our conversation?

When we become Christians, we are grafted into the body of Christ (Romans 11:17). God is our vine and we are His branches, apart from Him we can do nothing (John 15:5). Sure, we may look pretty for awhile, but if we don't keep ourselves firmly attached to God and in His Word, then we are merely looking pretty, without any life. God doesn't need more pretty things to decorate His living room, He needs Christians to be a fragrant offering, attracting the World to Him (Ephesians 5:2).

Do you look pretty and smell good? Or are you merely ornamental?

One last thought. There are seasons with God, just as there are in nature. But even in the winter, when the rose bush looks dead, it is still quite alive. During our autumns and winters in our walk with God, we need to cling ever closer to the Branch, so when it's time for us to bloom, we will be able to beautifully.