Day 22: Hearing God

EVERY ROSE HAS ITS THORN

READ- John 15:1-4

REFLECT- With Spring upon us I love watching the flowers bloom and the beautiful colors of creation return to the cold and barren trees. Even in this wet weather, our roses have already begun blooming and the cold sharp thorns have started to become hidden behind the blooming roses. I love it when our roses bloom; the plain gray of the house suddenly becomes full of life and the sweet aroma of the roses fill the yard.  I also love it when our roses bloom because it reminds me of God’s love for us. You see, I believe each one of us is a rose in God’s garden: created in His image to bring beauty to the dark world around us. But like the rose, we too need help maintaining our beauty. For our roses to maintain their beauty, they must experience the pain of having their broken, dying or non producing stems cut back. It is through this ongoing pruning that our roses bloom even more brightly. But those stems that remain attached to the vine, they come back stronger and more beautiful. Jesus is our vine in God’s garden. The closer we remain to him and the more we allow him to prune us and shape us, the stronger and more beautiful we become.

RESPOND- Take some time to evaluate your life and activities. What are the branches in your life that you need to let God prune back? What are the things that are choking you away from being all that God wants you to be? Spend some time asking God to help you prune off what is holding you back so that you can love and serve those around you.