[234 words]
As autumn approaches, we welcome the cooler temperatures and the changing of the seasons. We remember the promise of God to Noah,
“While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, Cold and heat, Winter and summer, And day and night Shall not cease” (Genesis 8:22).
Along with the change in the weather comes the beautiful splendor of fall colors. We enjoy the reds, oranges, yellows, and all hues in between as the Lord’s nature gets ready for the coming winter. However, it is somewhat ironic that we take so much enjoyment in the dying leaf. All summer the leaves have provided oxygen to breathe and offered shade from the heat. But now they have run their cycle and soon the colors will fade, the leaf will fall, and eventually decay back into the earth.
Now consider how our lives resemble the dying leaf. Our lives are full, active, and productive. While serving God, we provide good things for others. Then, as the years pass, we grow old, fade away, and return to the earth. For the Christian, the journey and its end is a joyous one. Just as we celebrate the dying leaf, we look forward to being with our Lord forever. “For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” (2 Corinthians 5:1)
Jay Launius
Maud church of Christ
Maud, TX