I glanced up from the water's edge this morning to look on a pine tree that appeared to be leaning over the pond. Most of its branches faced the open water and sky and the limbs were heavily laden with small pine cones...hundreds of them! I thought about how fruitful this tree is. Even though most of these pine cones will not grew into trees, every one of them has that potential. The tree itself isn't going anywhere...it is planted next to the water and growing year after year. But some of those pine cones will fall into the water below and be carried around the water's edge, or to the spillway where pond overflow moves downstream to the York River. The pine tree was born to reproduce. And so are we, as Christians, born spiritually to reproduce...as we remain planted at the water's edge of the Lord. Over time the fruit of His presence and Word will mature and the life we have experienced will be transmitted to new spiritual generations. Not all of our days and not all of our efforts will result in new life forming in others, just as the many pine cones will not all become trees....but some will! The great work of the pine tree as it overspreads the pond takes place as the tree simply remains healthy, nurtured by the pond itself.
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John 15:4 "Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me."
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blessings,
Rob Smith
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