Photo by Patrick Peori

This time of year, we are treated to the beauty of God’s creation through many vibrantly coloured leaves. The season of fall brings many beautiful colours to our trees. The colours pop. Beautiful reds, oranges, and yellows. I always love going for walks and taking a fall drive to see them. 

But the other day, something struck me.

These leaves are dying. And eventually, they will fall off the tree. The fallen leaves are often quickly raked up and thrown away because they don’t look so great. 

But those colours we see on the ground on the trail are doing something remarkable. In fact, they are still beautiful. Therefore, there’s a benefit to leaving the leaves. 

Mulched-up dead leaves can be used as an excellent fertilizer for grass and gardens. 

So what is actually dying is a beautiful blessing. Death is not the end of the story. It’s the beginning of something new. 

And the thing is, it can and should be the same in our own lives.

It is true that there are things in each of our lives that need to die. We need to die to particular habits, sins, ways of thinking and doing things. This is difficult!

But this death that we bear is our cross, and it is to bring us to greater freedom in the Lord. We die so that the Lord may bring about a new creation.

He will use our surrender to fertilize other areas of our lives and bring about new growth.  

So this week, I encourage you to pray about these two questions with faith rooted in hope:

1. In what ways is the Lord inviting me to die and surrender to old ways?
2. What beauty is God bringing about through this death?

Patrick is a beloved son of the Father who desires to use his gifts to build up the Kingdom of God. You can read more of his writing on his blog.