We own a rental house that I do the yard work at regularly. About 1 year ago, I had some friends help me do a major cleanup, which included hacking down to nothing a major pomegranate plant in the back yard. We took out everything we could see, but didn't touch the roots.
This week as I was picking some weeds, I noticed something. Not only had the pomegranate tree grown to about 4 feet tall again, but it had fruit on it again!
It got me thinking. As Christians, we concentrate so much on what is above the ground and the fruit that others can see in our lives. Often times we are devastated or suffer great deals of emotional pain or frustration when our fruit is taken away or we are pruned back and it seems like we will never bear fruit again.
What people don't see is the roots, the important part of the plant. I hacked away (with great effort and help) at this plant for some time, but the tree was well rooted and even though I attacked everything that could be seen, the tree was still a tree and without any assistance, it not only grew again, but bore fruit quickly.
If we keep our lives rooted in Christ, we know that no matter what happens to the fruit or if we suffer great setbacks in our ministries or our lives, God will be there to help us grow and bear fruit again. Just like my pomegranate tree.
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