Grace  enters the kitchen, breathless and covered with early morning mist. In her hand she holds a few small roses from our garden, presents for Mommy. “You don’t let me get flowers for you from the store,” she says, “so I have to get them from outside.” She asks me for a little vase or cup of water we can put them in ~ then we sit them on the middle of our table to admire.

I love flowers and always have. Just like my mother, daisies are my favorite. Happy and unpretentious, I don’t find any that compare with their simple beauty. Arranged in a beautiful bouquet, cut flowers brighten any room and make almost anyone smile  -and that is their purpose.

What is always sad for my little ones to see is that these flowers, once cut, are destined to wilt and die. Some disappoint us and wilt overnight; others surprise us (often some flower we aren’t as thrilled about, sad to say) and last a full week or even two. But eventually, they die because they are not connected to their root.

Sometimes Grace brings me a flower or two but gets distracted by some more important matter like building blocks or playing hide and seek with Daddy. She tosses the flowers on the table and runs off, forgetting them for the moment. She may remember them only an hour or two later, but alas, they have died and she must toss them out and collect more.

We as people can be a lot like Grace’s flowers. When we choose to connect to the source of our spiritual life (Christ) we remain fresh and flourishing. But when we choose to cut ourselves off from the spiritual nourishment of His life-giving Presence, we quickly begin to wilt. Some of us may be able to keep up a nice display of what appears to be strength and beauty for an impressive amount of time. We may even be impressed with our own abilities to survive on our own, or so we think. Like freshly cut flowers, we may appear to everyone as though we are thriving when the reality is our souls are wilting more quickly than we’d like to admit.

We may keep this up for awhile – feeding ourselves with the stuff of this world – the praise of other men, a new adventure or destination vacation, a socially acceptable addiction – it can be anything, really – can’t it? But it simply cannot compare to Christ. If they could speak, any cut flower would tell us that tap water and a packet of “plant food” simply can’t compare with rainwater in their roots and sunlight streaming into the soil that surrounds them.

Nothing and no one can nourish our souls, our spirits, that inner part of us that thirsts so deeply, that hungers achingly for unconditional love, abundant life, or meaningful and enduring relationship but Christ. No one else can fill our void for love, satisfaction, pleasure, worth, dignity, or true happiness the way that He can. No one.

I’m so glad that Jesus spoke to us sometimes in His Word through parables, stories, and illustrations when He knew we just might not “get it” any other way. Here He speaks to His disciples as they walked through a vineyard, referencing the life of the vines that surrounded them for their spiritual lesson (and now ours):

“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” ~ John 15:4-7 ESV

How about you, friend? Are you feeling depleted of spiritual and emotional strength today? Have you come to a realization that the good fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, and more cannot be worked up or self-produced, but must come as a result of a loving relationship with the Almighty – the source of all true goodness? If so, the good news is that even when we are withered, He can breathe new life into us. When we hunger and thirst, He is eager to fill. So cling to the Vine – and come alive again.

image courtesy of www.creationswap.com