Devotion #5: Full Price

I am not much of a gardener, but I succumbed to the influence of a friend who inspired me to purchase clearance (end-of-the-season) perennials at 90 percent off. I was assured that if I got them in the ground soon, they would bloom in the Spring. It is October, and I knew the selection would be slim, but I thought I would give it a try. This guy has a beautiful garden, so after talking with him, I was inspired to bring something back to life. So, off to Lowe’s I went. Christmas decor was front and center in the garden area, but way in the back, I found the rack of pots with the dried-up plants. The marker stick inserted in the pot is really the only way to identify what they once were. I bought what I could find and planted before the ground froze, and now I wait for Spring.  

Throughout Scripture there are many references to seeds. In John 12:24, Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” 

I did some research and found that when a seed is planted, the life breaks free from the seed and sprouts into something new, leaving behind a shell of what once contained it. When we give our life to Christ we die to our sinful nature and become new. We die to ourselves and our old ways so that we can become more like Him.  

Romans 6:5-11 says, “For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” 

None of us are worthy of the sacrifice that He made. We are all sinners (dead) without Him. Like the plants on the clearance rack, we are withered and dead, but even though we are not worthy, He paid the full price, not the 90 percent markdown! I look forward to Spring and seeing the new life that comes from what was planted.