“ Keep your Colors”
1Corinthians 15:58 “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”
Psalms 1:1-3 “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.”
I have to admit, autumn is one of my favorite times of the year. Football season starts, the MLB playoffs, and of course homemade apple pie (HINT HINT). It is one of the most beautiful times of the year here in the Adirondacks. The fall foliage is already showing!
I plan on taking my wife up to see all the beautiful colors and might even get a smooch out of it! People come from all over just to see the leaves turn colors.
However, we quickly resent these beautiful leaves when we have to rake them up, bag them, burn them, over and over and over again! OH, I hated raking leaves!
Why do leaves change colors? Why do leaves fall from trees?
They change colors because in a sense they stop eating/photosynthesis*. The trees stop the flow of food. We all enjoy the beautiful show of colors as leaves change each autumn. Did you ever wonder how and why this happens. To answer that question, we first have to understand what leaves are and what they do.
Leaves are nature's food factories. Plants take water from the ground through their roots. They take a gas called carbon dioxide from the air. Plants use sunlight to turn water and carbon dioxide into glucose. Glucose is a kind of sugar. Plants use glucose as food for energy and as a building block for growing. The way plants turn water and carbon dioxide into sugar is called photosynthesis. That means "putting together with light." A chemical called chlorophyll helps make photosynthesis happen. Chlorophyll is what gives plants their green color. As summer ends and autumn comes, the days get shorter and shorter. This is how the trees "know" to begin getting ready for winter. During winter, there is not enough light or water for photosynthesis. The trees will rest, and live off the food they stored during the summer. They begin to shut down their food-making factories. The green chlorophyll disappears from the leaves. As the bright green fades away, we begin to see yellow and orange colors. Small amounts of these colors have been in the leaves all along. We just can't see them in the summer, because the green chlorophyll covers them up.
The bright reds and purples we see in leaves are made mostly in the fall. In some trees, like maples, glucose is trapped in the leaves after photosynthesis stops. Sunlight and the cool nights of autumn turn this glucose into a red color. The brown color of trees like oaks is made from wastes left in the leaves. It is the combination of all these things that make the beautiful colors we enjoy in the fall.
Christians are like leaves. We change our colors also. We have sin laying dormant (well, it should be) in our lives. When water and light are not around us we stop growing also. The Word Of God works as the water, and the light are fellow believers. The bible says that we are the light of the world. ( Matthew 5:16)
If we fail to grow, it is because we have one of three problems:
1. sap is being stopped- the HOLY Spirit is being hindered. John 15:1- 8
2. We are not allowing ourselves around believers - Hebrews 10:24-26
3. We are not in the Word. We are not seeking what God wants
Sure, the foliage of the dying leaves is beautiful. But as Christians, we do not need to be dying. We need not be any other tree but an evergreen tree. An evergreen tree is dependable. They are the most populated trees around. Why? Because they spread the seeds.
We need to be dependable all year long. We need to keep our colors.
How do evergreens stay green year-round? In fact, they do lose their leaves. But they are able to grow new leaves before shedding the old ones! Some evergreens keep the same leaves through the winter and into the summer. Some trees are able to keep the same leaves for several years before they drop off!
Unlike the leaves that die off without sharing life, the evergreen makes sure that there is life growing behind it.
We need to do these things to ensure the livelihood of not only our families and freedom but of this church.
Here are some ways to continue the growth of our church:
1. Spread the seeds – Matthew 28:18-20
2. Share the success - Deuteronomy 6:7- 9
“And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.
Joshua 4:5-7 “And Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of Jordan, and take ye up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel: That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones? Then ye shall answer them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever.”
Teach the next generation. Not just kids but those new in the faith. They are babies. Help them grow. (matt 28:18-20)
3. Stabilize your steps. They are coming behind you. They need to see your steps faithful and upright.
You may have started off wrong. You may have messed up in your life. Finish strong. Hold your head high and walk!
Walk A Little Plainer, Daddy
Said A Little Boy One Day
I'm Following In Your Footsteps,
And I Want To Know The Way
Sometimes Your Steps Are Very Plain
And Sometimes Hard To See.
So Walk A Little Plainer, Daddy,
For You Are Leading Me.
I Know That Once You Walked
This Way, Many Years Ago,
And What You Did Along The Way
I'd Really Like To Know.
For Sometimes I Am Tempted
And Don't Know What To Do
So Walk A Little Plainer, Daddy,
For I Must Follow You
Sometime When I Am All Grown Up
You Are Like I Want To Be
Then I Will Know A Little Boy,
Who Will Want To Follow Me.
And I Would Want To Lead Him Right,
And Help Him To Be True.
So Walk A Little Plainer, Daddy
For We Must Follow You
Written by Forrest Flowers
(copied)
One of my favorite songs is the song “ find us faithful”.
This is my prayer, that those who come behind me find my steps faithful.
I pray that like Paul ended his life, they may be able to say, 2Timothy 4:6-8 “For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.”
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