Abide in Me by Owen Cooper

We have a huge sunflower in our garden right now. I enjoy watching the flower follow the path of the sun throughout the day. This week, Joseph and I were out looking at the giant leaves of the sunflower. They all looked very green and healthy. I broke one leaf off and we took it inside to see what it would look like. After a few days, it was dry and yellow and wilted.

Every summer we watch the tree leaves grow and flourish and provide for us wonderful shade. Then in the fall, as it gets colder, the leaves stop growing, lose their vibrant green and eventually fall off the branches. We are like leaves on God’s tree. God desires for us to grow in Him and be nurtured by His Spirit. But we can’t do that if we’re not connected to Him. Nor can we grow if we’re connected to Him but refuse to accept His life-giving Spirit in our lives. What color is your leaf? Are you a fresh bud growing by leaps and bounds every day? Do you have a vibrant, mature, steady growth about you? Have you stopped growing, living off your previous growth? Or are you lying dormant waiting for God to stir your Spirit anew?

Jesus said, "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. (John 15:4-5)