The Broken Stem and Personal Christmas Preparation

As uncanny as it might seem, this photo of the
broken zinnia and its wilted leaves was not
retouched. Patches of green grass is visible.

                A vibrant volunteer zinnia sprouted and flourished in the summer right next to one of the Celebrity tomato plants. Dad and my grandmothers planted these pollinators in their gardens.
               The volunteer zinnia grew on the east side of the cellar. One morning, I discovered a large zinnia flower on its tall stem laying down and broken off from the plant – perhaps from cats launching off the cellar door. Hoping against hope, I propped the broken stem against a tomato cage.
               Of course, the broken stem remained bolstered by the wire tomato cage, but the leaves began wilting. The healthy green of the vigorous, volunteer zinnia faded from the badly damaged stem, leaving it an ashen gray. Its beautiful flower’s brilliant color began losing its luster, eventually turning brittly brown.
               As I mourned briefly over its loss, the teaching of Jesus the last night He was with His disciples came to mind. His teaching on the absolute necessity of abiding in Him is recorded in John 15. Jesus’ final discourse with His eleven apostles the night before His crucifixion offered the setting for Jesus’ comparison of His relationship with them as a vine giving life, nourishment, and fruitfulness to its connected branches. The droopy, broken stem with a withering, once-prolific zinnia demonstrated the opposite of what Jesus wanted for His followers. The shriveling zinnia pictured the demise of a believer’s effectiveness making choices to “disconnect” with Christ.
               In an article entitled "The Grammar of Faith," Jen Pollack Michel wrote of the prepositions associated with our relationship with God. She identified “with” as the most intimate preposition - descriptive of a vibrant, on-going relationship with Jesus.
               God inspired Isaiah to prophesy of the virgin birth of Jesus and revealing His name Emmanuel “which being interpreted God with us.” Then Matthew quoted from that very prophecy that Isaiah wrote about 700 years before the birth of the Messiah to Mary in Bethlehem.
               Jen Pollack Michel discussed the thought of God with us in conjunction with Jesus’ teaching on the vine and the branches. How insightful His words as recorded by the Apostle John are in John 15:5, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without me you can do nothing.”
               Then Jesus gave a sobering reminder to the believer who lagged back from abiding with Jesus in John 15:6 - “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.” The renowned Bible teacher, Dr. Warren Weirsbe, expounded on this verse in his second volume of the New Testament from The Bible Exposition Commentary. He wrote, “It is a tragic thing for a once-fruitful believer to backslide and lose his privilege of fellowship and service. If anything, John 15:6 describes divine discipline rather than eternal destiny.”
              As we begin the advent season, recall the prophecy of Jesus being “God with us” and Matthew restating it as a reminder of Emmanuel, the name given the tiny King, meaning “God with us.” As we plan Christmas celebrations, may the undergirding thought of “God with us” sustain us through the complications of 2020. When feeling overwhelmed, may we whisper,

“Emmanuel, You are with me.

Nothing is too hard for you.

Calm my heart.

Grant me clarity to think thoughts in line with Your Word.

Give me courage to obey,

Being confident You are with me.”