rust and renewal

I went for a drive through the countryside yesterday afternoon.  It was a gorgeous Virginia afternoon.  The sun was bright but not too glaring.  The fields waved green and gold of grasses, corn and grains.  Few other drivers were sampling the remote stretch of road I followed and I felt like I was sampling a banquet of the Lord.  I passed a number of antiquated general stores and old gas stations.  They typically still had signs that had been sponsored by Coca Cola or other beverage companies.  Some of the old stores and stations had been maintained, complete with the old vertical kind of gas pumps.  But most had been allowed to fade and rust and go unpainted as nature was gradually reclaiming the materials.  It occurred to me that the fields I passed represented God's nature of life and renewal.  With every spring the land produces new crops.  The seasons work through their cycle and the nutrients of the soil combine with the light of the sun and the warmth of the air and the moisture from the sky to support the farmers labor to form the food to renew our lives and the lives of livestock.  God's nature is to bring life and to renew the land.  This contrasted with the work of man on display through the old stores and stations.  The handiwork of man does not renew naturally like the fields of God.  Man's handiwork tends toward rust and deterioration.  I was reminded that we need the renewal of God in our lives, as the fields display, to bring new life.  The land of Virginia is very old but this spring a fresh crop is rising once again.  We can shake off the rust and experience the same renewal in our lives as we consider the soil of our lives as a field for His planting.

Psalm 72:16 

May there be abundant grain throughout the land,
    flourishing even on the hilltops.
May the fruit trees flourish like the trees of Lebanon,
    and may the people thrive like grass in a field.

blessings,

Rob Smith