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Topic: Vines (11/21/05)
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TITLE: Lesson from the Garden | Previous Challenge Entry
By Birdie Courtright
11/26/05 -
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I had one small job left before the sun went down. Thinking it wouldn’t take long to clear the overgrown vines from my fence, I left that task for the end of the day. I enjoy working in my yard. It’s cathartic. It’s the time when I can freely ponder the wonder of God, and take a break from the daily issues of life. Somehow, among the weeds and the grass burrs, I find can see more clearly and listen more deeply. As I pulled on my work gloves and headed toward the fence, I was thankful for the undisturbed moments I had been able to spend working in my yard.
I reached toward the tangle of vines with my shears and began to snip away. It didn’t take long to realize that I had underestimated the job of clipping down the vines that had been flourishing since early spring. It was apparent that these vines were clearly going to be there for a few more Saturdays. I continued to clip and snip and pull at the maze of greenery until the last few slivers of sunlight pierced the sky. The sunset was fading into the gray of evening as I threw my gloves down and stepped back from the fence. Though I’d worked furiously for at least an hour, it appeared as though I had not even made a dent. The heap of vines laying in a mass at my feet were nothing compared to the monumental cluster that still had a strangle hold on my fence.
In defeat, I sank to my knees in front of the fence still heavy with the thick green tangle of vines. As I gazed at the seemingly indestructible wall of foliage in front of me, I heard His words echoing through my heart "Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15: 5 NLT) In the fading moments of the afternoon I found new understanding of the scripture I had memorized many years ago.
The fence was still covered. No matter how hard I’d worked at removing the vines, the fence was hidden under layers and layers of vines that had overtaken it. They wrapped around each other, invading every crack, one vine interweaving itself into the next until the fence itself was no longer visible.
As I stood and took hold of the foliage still growing wildly along my fence, I instantly grasped the power of the vine to completely overtake wherever it is invited to grow. I thought of my journey with Christ. I had once been like this; just allowing the Vine to grow a little thinking it might dress up the fence. I remember how uncomfortable it had been at times, as Jesus entwined Himself into the cracks and crevices of my life, like this vine.
Tears of gratitude streamed down my cheeks, as I buried my face in the sweet aroma of the vines reflecting on the many different seasons that had passed in my life. I am only complete now, because of the power of the Vine that I had invited to grow, in small ways at first, against the fence of my life. Little did I know that the fence would one day disappear from sight. The contour of the Vine growing in excess would be the only clue that a fence constructed of dead wood, once stood alone and lifeless, where life now thrives in abundance.
The vine still grows in profusion on the side of my house. I gained a new appreciation for its beauty that day. I decided to let it have its way with my fence as a reminder that what has been hidden by the Vine has become an intricate part of its fullness.
“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Gal. 2: 20 NKJ
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