Something happens in me every autumn- something beautiful and refreshing. The colors, the relief from heat, and the feeling of a fresh new start all collide to create a sense of awakening. Years of the rhythm of the school year have created an unmistakable association with this season- the old is gone, the new is come!
Ironic though that it's the death of foliage that heralds this awakening. It's not new birth, it's death. Those striking colors all result from the degeneration of trees and bushes as they prepare for winter hibernation. Day after day, leaves change color and drop to the ground to be trampled and slowly disentegrate.
It may sound odd, but God uses trees to teach me. I'm not an animist, but for four years now, I can pinpoint specific lessons God had for me by drawing my attention to nature, and specifically to trees. This season is no different.
The Christian life could not be possible without death. Jesus' sacrificial death and powerful resurrection are the avenue by which we gratefully inherit eternal and abundant life. God does not waste death; He uses it.
Likewise, He calls us to death. We see this most clearly in Matthew 10:38,
"Anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."The life God designed for us is found through death- both Jesus' and our own death to the god of self. Death is not only meaningful and purposeful for the Christian, it is beautiful as God so lovingly reminds us at this time of year.
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