Beetles!

“Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit.” Matthew 12:33

As many of you know, I love my roses. There is nothing like spying a large bud perfectly formed and anticipating the grand splendor of its opening. Each day I witness the tiny awakenings of that rose with great anticipation of its presentation. Sometimes my anticipation is dashed by the appearance of a small hole in the base of the rose – Japanese beetles! I hate those pesky destroyers of beauty! They steal the beauty of the rose’s full capacity and shorten the life of the yield.

God plants each of us so He may have a means to display His yield, His workings and His beauty. Our yield is recognized by the manner in which we grow ourselves up. Many of us do not protect our growth by covering ourselves in prayer and meditating in His Word. We bare ourselves to the elements of the brutal seasons without protecting our fruit.

We are like the beautiful rose whose growth is never fully realized because of bitterness that we allow to invade the very base of our growth. God has given us everything required to reach our destinies in Him and become recognizable as His children, His planting to display His splendor.

We must align ourselves with Him to protect our yield so it will always reflect the beauty intended by our Gardener.