Day 7, August 15, 2011
You make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of the dust.
This is chorus to a new worship song called Beautiful Things. How true this chorus is on so many levels. First, the Lord truly does make beautiful things. When is the last time that you sat and truly enjoyed this wonderful world that the Lord created. I am a maintenance technician and I work predominately outside every day. I love being outside. I love enjoying the beauty of the trees, the birds, the horses, the beautiful cloud paintings that wisp by each day. There is always something new to see, observe, and enjoy. Our God is truly incredible.
Today my coworker and I worked on cutting down dead trees. Most trees are so beautiful but sometimes there are those trees that couldn’t handle the climate and weather, that were stricken by disease, or just reached the end of their life. When this happens, their leaves or needles begin to turn brown and fall off. The bark begins to lose its luster and eventually begins to peel off. After a while, the once-strong wood that supported the tree begins to turn into a mushy dirt like consistency. Today we cut down a tree that the chainsaw cut through like butter and after only a small cut I was able to lightly push over the tree.
How can something that was once so strong get to such a weak and frail point? It really drives home the point to me that we are all dust eventually, which is my second observation from this song. Things that once were tall and strong and colorful can be reduced to just dust and ashes. This is no different for us. We all will also return to dust. The scripture in Exodus 3:17-19 truly drives this concept of dust home through God’s punishment on man after his disobedience,
17 And to Adam he said,
“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife
and have eaten of the tree
of which I commanded you,
‘You shall not eat of it,’
cursed is the ground because of you;
in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
and you shall eat the plants of the field.
19 By the sweat of your face
you shall eat bread,
till you return to the ground,
for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust,
and to dust you shall return.”
I truly feel the weight of God’s punishment here because I battle weeds, overgrowth, and pestilence each day. All of these things are a result of the fall. Though I love being outside and working in the beautiful world the Lord has created, I do not always love pulling weeds, trimming overgrowth, and cutting the lawn constantly. This is just something that has to be done.
To keep our souls from turning to dust and rotting away from our creator and King, we have to allow our King to prune, weed, and cultivate our heart. It is in our dependence on our Lord that we find growth in all the fruits of our lives. He works to squelch the many weeds, overgrowth, and disease we allow into our hearts. I am so thankful that I am the branch and am able to depend fully on the vine (John 15:1-8). I find such comfort knowing that my strength is not all I have to survive this life but that I have His strength to help me pass all the trials and temptations I will face.
Isn’t great to know that we have a Father who cares about us and takes care to grow us all the time. This is my third year of growing a garden and I have to admit that it can be hard work. The garden can turn into weeds and chaos so quickly. I have to keep a constant eye on it and work it each day to produce healthy produce. Our Lord does this for us all the time. He carefully and meticulously works to help us produce the most fruit in our lives.
Jesus, you make beautiful things
You make beautiful things out of us whom you created from dust
Blessings,
Greg
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