If you insist on saving your life, you will lose it. Only those who throw away their lives for my sake and for the sake of the Good News will ever know what it means to really live. Mark 8:35

My friends had a tree in their yard that was dying. They tried to save the tree but could not. If they left the stump in place, nothing else could grow there. The hired man had to grind the stump into dust before fertile soil could bring life from a new planting.

Jesus says death will result if you insist on trying to work your way into heaven. When you cast yourself at Jesus’ feet with abandonment, He will dig up the roots binding you. Jesus will grind the old stump into dust.

A rare and beautiful beginning takes the place of the old you. A new and precious flower permeates the air proclaiming the good news. Jesus changes everything in the life surrendered to Him. Life begins again in the hands of the master gardener.