Object Lesson from a KumKwat Tree

This morning as Dana and I were cleaning the yard, he called me over to the backyard where he showed me this HUGE thorny bush growing in the Kumkwat tree. From a distance, you really can't tell the thorn bush is there. You can see the kumkwat are full and the tree looks healthy.

Taking a step closer, you can see the sprout at the top of the tree is bare of fruit.

But as you look closer, you see that the fruit is almost smothered by the thorn tree. This is the lesson that Dana received from this thorn bush.

The thorns represent the junk in our lives. This junk may not seem like it would hurt us, as you can see there is still fruit on this tree. But the junk is stuff that we allow to grow in us and can hinder our witness. It is thick and thorny and can cause us to become prickly and stubborn and smother the good stuff in our lives. The thornbushes are usually more sturdy than the fruit limbs and are very difficult to get rid of. We sometimes don't even notice the thornbushes that crop up in our lives because they sort of blend in. But they aren't healthy. They poke other people. It's a little irritation at first, then it becomes self-defense and it will usually result in a wall of bristly thorns that nobody wants to be around.

The only way you can deal with the thornbushes in our lives is to cut them out completely. We can't just prune them back and hope that they stay under control. We must uproot them until there is no thornbush enbedded in our lives.

Once we removed the thornbush from the kumkwat tree, I couldn't believe how BIG it was. It was over 10 feet tall and the thorns were over 2 inches long... This is how the junk in our lives begins to take over. Little by little. The only way we can keep the thornbushes from growing is with daily maintenance. We have to stop and take inventory of what our lives represent.

• What is filling up our day to day existence?

• Is it full of godly behaviors?

• Are you filling yourself up with the spirit through daily Bible study, worship and prayer?

• Do you surround yourself with Godly people and things?

Taking inventory every day is the only way to recognize and maintain your godly life. If you see a stalk of sin like the thornbush below, then immediately CUT it out of your life. Don't let it take another day away from you. Start living in the Fruit of the Spirit.

I wish I had a better picture to show you how pretty the kumkwat tree looks with the thornbush removed. I hope this demonstration of the object lesson of the kumkwat tree spoke to you like it did Dana and me.

I love you and I love when the Lord reveals himself in nature. He is the creator and the maker of all things. He is LOVE and the fruit of the spirit is just waiting to grow in you like this tree.

Love,

Lea Anne