Acorns Aweigh

S

igns of fall are everywhere.  The leaves are changing, the air is cooler, and the days are getting shorter.  Birds are beginning their migrations south and squirrels are quickly gathering the last few nuts, berries, and acorns in preparation for the long winter ahead.  I never cease to be amazed at how animals intuitively know the seasons are changing and how they busily set about the task of gathering food to last throughout the winter months.

In addition, plants also make provision, shedding their leaves, and preparing their seeds for sleep in anticipation of waking in the spring and producing new plants.  Although their seeds lie dormant in the soil, they contain within them everything necessary to sprout new life.  I was reminded of this fact yesterday afternoon.  On the way to my car, which was parked under a large oak tree, I watched as several acorns fell to the ground.  A brief gust of wind caused the tree to shed them and they fell straight down.  Fortunately, they missed my car.  However, as I looked at the acorns, an interesting thought came to me.

The acorn is a seed, containing everything within it necessary for producing a large, sprawling oak tree.  Next to the tree, the acorn appears to have no significance or value.  In fact, unless you look carefully, you will walk right by them or trample them under foot.  However, if you stop and think about an acorn for a moment, a great truth comes to light.  The acorn, if it falls into the ground, will produce a giant oak tree that will provide shade and shelter for years to come.

This is exactly the same idea Jesus used when he talked about faith.  So often we misunderstand what faith is.  We believe that faith is the undertaking of great tasks for God. Or, we believe that faith is coming to God with a list of wants, stating them, and then claiming them, waiting for God to "ship" us our requested items.  Moreover, we seem to exercise our faith only in moments of great crises or need.  While all of these speak of aspects of faith, they don't adequately define what faith is.

In John 12:24, Jesus makes the following observation concerning faith: “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain."  On the surface, it may seem that Jesus required the seed to completely die.  If that were so, how could it "grow" into a living thing.  The seed grows into a living thing, by changing its form and its nature.  As a seed it contains the potential for becoming a new plant.  However, it is only when it ceases being a seed, when it gives up its old form, its old shape, its old life and begins changing, striving toward what it will become that the seed truly begins to live.  The changing of a seed into a plant is a process.  It requires the seed to change in order to grow.

The same is true in the Christian life.  Our faith only grows when we give up our old form, our old ways, our old habits, and when we cease being what we were.  When we give these up, then, by faith, we begin developing a deeper relationship with God.  The goal of this relationship is for us to grow into the image of Christ so that our lives will give evidence of his power and grace.  Just as the oak tree is proof of the faith of the acorn, so too must our lives serve as proof that faith in God leads to a strong, abiding, relationship with our Heavenly Father.

I don't believe I will ever look at an acorn in the same way again.  Faith in God is a way of life.  It is not something we haul out of the closet and use only when we need it. Instead, it must become our lifestyle, the defining element of who we are.  The Scriptures themselves tell us in the book of Hebrews that "without faith it is impossible to please him." (Hebrews 11:6).  No matter where you are in your walk with God today, below ground in the seed stage, or above ground in the growing stage, keep believing and trusting in Him.  He, more than anyone, knows how to grow an oak tree from an acorn.  Just imagine what he wants to do with you!  Will you let him?