“It is she that has got all Narnia under her thumb. It’s she that makes it always winter,” Mr. Tumnus tells Lucy. “Always winter and never Christmas; think of that!”
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Is your life green and blossoming?
I came across John the Baptist’s question as I disciplined myself to read the Bible one morning. Really I wanted to lay my head back and take a nap. But I kept my eyes open enough to read, and this simple question woke me up.
Two thousand years later, the question is just as relevant: What counts is your life. Is it green and blossoming? (Luke 3, MSG)
Yes. And no.
If I am honest, I have to look at my life in parts to consider an answer. How is my soul? My marriage? My relationships with my kids? Family life? Friendships? Work? Home? Service? Health? Prayer life? And so on. In some areas I see the green of spring; in others, the gray of winter reigns. Is it even possible for growth and life in all part at all times?
I am reminded of the constant struggle between life and death. In all places and areas, I want life, and in all places and areas, death threatens in the forms of deterioration, disconnection, and decay.
As I write, summer gives way to fall. After several weeks in the high 90s and low 100s, I look forward to fire pits, cool breezes, and orange, red, and yellow Tennessee hillsides. But fall’s beauty also tells the story of summer’s death. Trees will soon bare only branches. Days grow shorter and darker. Afternoons driving with the windows down will give way to heated seats and never seeing the neighbors because we will pull into the garage and shut it behind us before the cold, wind, and rain hit us. Sure, there will be distractions: Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s parties. Basketball season. Football playoffs. Vacations. Snow days. Mostly, though, winter means darkness. Cold darkness. Even in warm places like Florida, darkness still crowds the light. The sun rises late and sets early. Although it is fall now, our collective longing for spring is not far off.
Life, death, and the hope for life again.
My grandmother died a few weeks ago. She was my last remaining grandparent. For years I was the middle aged man with four grandparents, alive and well. Even a year ago both grandmothers lived. Now they are all gone. As I consider my grandmother’s death, I also consider the domino effect of death. A physical death tips others toward soul death. Loved ones say goodbye and then must fight through grieving hearts for life again.
So long as we live in this world, we face the battle for life amidst the threat of death. We must fight for life, life in all parts of our lives. In our bodies. In our souls. In our spirits. In our relationships. In our communities. To be human is to be faced with the challenge to find life and the fight to keep it. A daunting task, to say the least. All of which brings to mind John’s question: Is your life green and blossoming?
I imagine the people who first heard it faced spiritual life and death battles just like you and me. Then a crazy man makes a scene traveling throughout the region talking about a special baptism. Come to the river, he tells them.
When we are bored we will line up to see people who will entertain us. John’s audience gathered along the water’s edge because of curiosity. Some came to judge or be entertained. But when they showed up, John invited them to be participants: The life you want begins with internal work. You cannot wash or rearrange or mask or manipulate your external world enough to find the life you want.
Now he had their attention.
A few questions later, the text says the interest of the people began to build. Keep in mind they were initially there because it was popular. In other words, they already had interest. But after John confronts their need for life change, a new interest peaks. Hope springs to life. They are no longer there to buy a t-shirt or souvenir keychain. Instead the encounter sparks hope that something deeper is available to them. Could this be the one who has been promised, the one who will finally make the world right?
John senses their anticipation and their attachment to him, and he redirects their hope to Jesus. Even as he does, he casts vision for their expectations. Jesus will change their lives, starting with the heart of things. It will be an inside-out kind of change. Things, internal things, need to be put back into place. Jesus would make the world right, starting with the worlds inside of each of them.
Today the offer and process is the same. Those who want a life green and vibrant must start with God and their own heart. It is in the heart where God must prune, heal, and restore.
Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.
Proverbs 4:23
With all the places in our lives where disconnection, deterioration, and decay threaten, you might think divine wisdom would tell us to focus on survival. Plug all the holes, even as new ones burst open and we run out of fingers and energy. But always God brings us back to one place: our heart.
What happens in your heart ripples its way into the rest of your life.
We can find strength in this: God never blames or shames anyone for wanting more life. He champions our desire for life. It is our desire for life which puts his name in our mind and on our tongue. Our desire for life leads us to seek help. God does not want us to seek him because it is popular. He does not want us hiding behind the reputations we can clothe ourselves in. He wants us to come for life. Life is his business. Jesus came to offer it. Without God, death. With God, life. Where God is not, death. Where God is, life.
If your life is not green and blossoming, come as you are. Start with your heart. When and where your life wilts, it is your heart which needs water and care. It is the heart which needs attention and healing before it can again produce a life worth living. Regardless of what season it is inside of you, when God puts things in the heart back into place, spring is not far off.
