Here is a picture of a hydrangea tree that we have in our backyard. (The area around it is dug up because Bob is getting it ready for more plantings.) Bob's sisters gave this to him several years ago and we have enjoyed it ever since. We have had problems getting other hydrangeas to bloom, but this one has bloomed every year. It begins blooming in July with lots of white blossoms. As summer comes to an end, the blossoms begin to turn pinker and they darken to an antique rose color. They often stay on the tree well into winter and are often hanging on with snow covering them. This tree reminds me of we as Christians are supposed to be. You see - this tree is really a bush that has been grafted onto a trunk. In Romans, Paul compares us to a wild branch that is grafted into a cultivated tree: " After all, you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree". Romans 11:24. We have been grafted into the family of God and are alive through Christ! Now our job is to "flower" or bear fruit. It is too easy to sit back and depend on others to do the work, tell the story, help those in need... I'm so often guilty of that and I need to be reminded of why I am here. I'm supposed to be "bearing fruit". "Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them." Matthew 7:17-20.
