The Stump and the Sapling

"He condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit."      Romans 8:3b-4

An axe was once laid to the root of an old crab apple tree, barely leaving the vestige of a stump above ground. The old tree was not only felled, but mortally wounded, never to produce another crab apple. The owner of the orchard then grafted into the dry stump, a sprig bearing the flower of Golden Delicious apples. In time, a sturdy sapling had grown from the base of the stump and bore... what? Crab apples? No way. The fruit took on the identity and distinctiveness of the living graft, not the old stump. It was new fruit from a "new" tree. This delighted the owner of the orchard. But his work wasn't over. He still had to snip off crab-apple sucker shoots which would sprout from the stump. As long as he did, the Golden Delicious sapling flourished. 

This analogy from my pastor serves as a marvelous word picture of how, as new creatures in Christ, we are dead to sin, yet alive to God. This is a difficult concept to grasp; for although the Bible says we are dead to sin, sometimes it doesn't feel like it! The story of the stump and the sapling clears it up.   "Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation - but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it... if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the boy, you will live..." (Romans 8:12-13). And therefore we, who have taken on the identity and distinctiveness of Christ, have an obligation to "put to death" those sucker shoots of sin which, if we're not careful, will rob us of fruit that pleases God.

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You are one Golden Delicious apple in the Father's eye! "For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God" (1 Peter 1:23). You have every right, every reason, and every resource today to grow and produce fruit in your life which pleases the Owner of the Orchard.          

Help me to recognize those shoots of sin in my life today, Lord. And then give me strength to put to death those sinful things which threaten to control.

Blessings,

 

Joni and Friends

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