Dull Brown to Glistening Beauty

If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit.  Apart from me you can do nothing.  Jn. 15:5

 

I have a tendency to become obsessed with things, this blog being one.  But I can only write this blog if I’m vitally connected to my Source of Life.  He is the One who teaches me and tells me what to write.  He has to be my obsession, and He has to constantly help me keep Him first in my heart.  As I was praying about this this morning, God reminded me of what He had taught me on our trip to Missouri last week.

 

During our tour of Fisher Cave (see Light in Impenetrable Darkness) in the first big room, the guide pointed out the stalactites hanging from the ceiling.  Some stalactites were white, wet, shiny, and beautiful.  He said they are active and alive.  They are growing, continually fed by the water from above.

 

Other stalactites were a dull reddish-brown color.  He said those were alive at one time, but have become dormant.  They’d lost their reflective shine because they no longer had water covering them and protecting them.  They had begun to oxidize.  The rust was covering the bright, white calcite, dulling it to a reddish-brown.  Their growth has stopped.  But he said they could begin to grow again if exposed to the life giving water again.

 

As he was explaining this, I was thinking God is giving me a sermon right here in this cave!  When we detach from our Life Source, we become brown and dull.  We are disconnected from Him, and our growth halts.  However, once we reconnect again to the living water, we can grow once more.  We are brought back to life.  We are protected by Him, covered by His grace.  We become white, shiny, and sparkly, reflecting His light again.  Then we can be made beautiful, glistening with the beauty of life in Him. 

 

Whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst.  Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.  Jn. 4:14