Bulrushes

Bulrushes.  Their Fall shades of dull-brown heads and beige stalks belie the Spring shades of green and rich earthen tones.  Before the new growth, the old stems and cattail puffs shrivel up, and yet never seem to quite die. They slowly slough off that old, papery shell, but a remnant hangs on for a good part of the new season.

Isn’t that just like us?  Christians put on Christ; old things are passed away…behold, the new has come!  And yet, there remains within us some of those stubborn old habits that never quite seem to die.  Woe to me, if I should say: “Well, it’s just the way I am!”  Such a pitiful excuse; so flimsy.  More flimsy than Adam and Eve’s fig leaves.  Before our Lord, we have no excuse for sin.  And yet, before our Lord, we have a generous grace; enough to deal with the sin, not just paper it over.  A genuine sorrow will lead to true repentance and a turning away from the sin that so easily entangles. 

Peter's introduction in his first letter is saturated with tremendous words of profound encouragement: 

“Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to God’s elect, exiles scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, (what is now modern-day Turkey), who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance.”      (1 Peter 1:1,2)

These believers were nowhere near perfect, and yet they lacked nothing in their battle against remaining sin.  Yes, there may well be vestiges of our old way of life but we really do have all that we need to mature in Christ and delight in Him. Be strengthened by the Father's choosing, the Spirit's sanctifying work and the Saviour's sufficient blood, to live in His abundant grace and peace.  The old sheaves of the cattails and the old patterns of our lives will make way for the new.