Letting Dead Things Go

I’m always sad to see Summer end; but I love when Fall comes. That seems so contradictory doesn’t it? Yet, when I look at it, I enjoy the quiet pace of Summer and the warm summer sun. I enjoy vacation with my family. Summer gives my heart time to breathe. Then when life’s activities begin to pick up pace again and I truly know Summer is coming to an end, I find myself beginning to look forward to the arrival of Fall. This is where my life is right now as I write.

I have watched the grandchildren as their parents attended meetings and prepared their classrooms to teach a new school year. I have signed up for the new Fall Thursday morning Bible study at church. I have even bought some new silk floral arrangements to decorate my home to signal the arrival of Fall.

As I look at the Autumn colors in these arrangements, I think of the beauty of the soon-to-be changing colors of the leaves on the trees. When Summer ends, the trees no longer make chlorophyll for the leaves and they begin to lose their green color. Fall “magic” begins and we get a show of beautiful yellow, gold, orange, and red color as the trees prepare to drop their leaves. Trees do this to prepare for winter. They know that when Spring comes, they will again burst forth with an abundance of beautiful new green leaves as a new growing season begins. God has ordained this cycle for them.

I read recently on a card that “the trees are about to show us how lovely it is to let the dead things go”. As I read this, I was reminded that in Christ, I am a new creation. I have put to death the old nature and have put on the new. I am no longer the same person I was before trusting in God's salvation that comes through His Son, Jesus Christ. Yet, unlike trees, I have the unique ability to resurrect those "dead things"...the old nature I once put to death. When I do, I hamper the "new growing season" God has put before me.

My prayer for each of us is that, as we observe the lovely show the trees put on as they let their colorful leaves fall, we will be reminded to leave the "dead things"...the old nature and past mistakes...in the past and enjoy the loveliness of walking with Christ in the new life He has brought us.

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come." 2 Corinthians 5:17

This Fall enjoy the "new things that have come" in your life and leave the "dead things" in the past!

by Pat Tingwall