When the great poet and author Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was well along in years, his head as white as snow, his cheeks as red as a rose, an ardent admirer asked him how it was that he was able to keep so vigorous and write so beautifully. Pointing to a blooming apple tree nearby, he replied: “That apple tree is very old, but I never saw prettier blossoms upon it than those it now bears. The tree grows a little new wood every year, and I suppose it is out of that new wood that those blossoms come. Like the apple tree, I try to grow a little new wood every year.”
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“Whether you think you can or you can’t, you are right.”
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As Christians, we want to nurture our life in Christ so that it continues to grow consistently and refuse to let it stagnate. We want to continue our growth as God’s children by studying His Word. We want our lives to bear fruit for the Master. We want a life that is strong and will endure.
Psalm 1:1-3 tells us “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the
wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.”
Today, let’s make a personal commitment to growing new wood and blossoming into the beautiful children of God that we have been designed to be.
