The Snapplemiffin trees of Fruitinshire-An illustration of the difference between justification and sanctification

              Far away in the land of Fruitinshire there lives an orchard owner and his beautiful orchard of Snapplemiffin trees. These trees produce more perfect, deliciously scrumptious fruit than can be imagined by the human mind, and the orchard owner himself is famous for his orchard of magnificent Snapplemiffin trees. This honor is not ill-deserved, for the orchard owner has undergone great personal sacrifice to secure the orchard of Snapplemiffin trees-the journey to create the seeds of these trees then the years of pruning ended in the death of his only son, but that is a tale for another day.              
             Snapplemiffin trees, unlike trees in our world, produce their best fruit at the time of pruning, and every year at that time, people throughout the entire land of Fruitinshire travel far and wide to visit the Snapplemiffin orchard to catch a glimpse of the famous trees and taste their fruit. Not a single person, after seeing the trees’ fruit, can leave the orchard without giving praise to their creator and keeper, and well they should, for that was what the trees and their fruit were created for-to bring glory to their Creator.               
             One year, a random acorn fell into the well-fertilized soil of the Snapplemiffin orchard and began to grow. With the near magical soil of the orchard, the oak tree grew at a miraculous pace, and by the time of pruning, had grown into the height and size of a Snapplemiffin tree. The only difference in appearance between it and a Snapplemiffin tree is that its branches were not laden with Snapplemiffin fruit-only acorns, which were despised by and offensive to the orchard owner.
                Naturally, all the Snapplemiffin trees noticed this, and pointed it out to the oak tree. “You must not be a Snapplemiffin tree. If you were a Snapplemiffin tree, you would have Snapplemiffin fruit. Every true Snapplemiffin tree has Snapplemiffin fruit to prove it. Ask the orchard owner to change you into a true Snapplemiffin tree.”
               But although the other trees warned the oak tree daily that it was not a true Snapplemiffin tree and would be cut down at the time of pruning, the oak tree did not consider that to be a problem.
                “I’m as good as any dumb ‘ol Snapplemiffin tree. Why should I not be allowed to stay in this orchard and be admired by the people of the land?” he reasoned. “I don’t need the orchard owner to change who I am. I can remain an oak tree. I love my acorns. Why should I have to give them up? I just need to put Snapplemiffin fruit on my branches. Then everyone will like me, and I’ll look good and be admired by all those who come to the orchard.” This of course was not the purpose or heart of the Snapplemiffin trees-to be admired themselves- and though they often told him they bore fruit and existed only in gratitude for and to please and glorify their creator, the oak tree never quite seemed to get it.
               As the growing season progressed and other trees continued bearing fruit, the oak tree set to work. Every night while the other trees slept, the oak tree would gather Snapplemiffin trees with its branches and set them on the branches of his own tree overtop the acorns that were already in place. As the days passed, many of the other trees began to forget he was not a true Snapplemiffin tree. They saw the Snapplemiffin fruit on his branches, and they all knew that the true sign of a Snapplemiffin tree was Snapplemiffin fruit.
             By the time pruning season began, all the Snapplemiffin trees had accepted the oak tree as one of their own, and the oak tree, elated with the success of his plan, was certain that he could fool the orchard owner as well. “All I had to do to make them believe I was one of them was just put on some of their fruit. I look just like them now. No one will know the difference, and I will receive glory and praise for my beautiful fruit when the people of the kingdom arrive, and love and acceptance from the orchard owner as well! I didn’t need the orchard owner’s sacrifice. I don’t need his pruning. I can have my acorns and be a Snapplemiffin tree, too.”
           But things did NOT go as planned when the orchard owner arrived. He walked right over to the oak tree and began preparations to cut him down.
            “What are you doing?” the oak tree screamed in protest. “I’m one of yours; I’m a Snapplemiffin tree! You can’t cut me down! Look at my fruit!”
                 The orchard owner shook his head. “You were never one of my trees. You may have tacked on the fruit of the Snapplemiffin trees, but your identity never changed. Your goal in putting on fruit was not to glorify me, but to make yourself look good and make yourself acceptable to me. The only way to become acceptable to me is to let me change you into a Snapplemiffin tree. I know my trees and you are not one of them.” To prove his point, the orchard owner reached out his hand, and shook the tree. Snapplemiffin fruit fell to the ground, and the acorns were suddenly clearly visible. Everyone gasped as the oak tree hung its branches in shame.
                There was silence for several moments and everyone held their breaths to see what the orchard owner would do. “Would you like me to make you into a true Snapplemiffin tree?” he finally asked.
                The oak tree lifted its branches in surprise. “Why would you do that? I don’t deserve to become a real Snapplemiffin tree. I tried to become one and please you and others by putting on fruit. I’ve lied to everyone. I didn’t want to give up my acorns. Why would you make me one of your trees?”
                The orchard owner smiled. “None of these trees deserved that. They all were once ordinary oak trees, enjoying their acorns and seeking the praise of others. But my son gave his life to acquire the formula for changing oak trees into Snapplemiffin trees to glorify me, and all of these trees have recognized this and asked me to change who they are from their roots up to the tips of their branches to make them Snapplemiffin trees. They have surrendered their acorns and given them up, for they know they are offensive to me.”
                “Please, if you will,” the oak tree began, “I would like-I want-Will you make me into a Snapplemiffin tree? I will give up my acorns. I desire now only to be one of your trees and bear fruit for you.”
              The orchard owner smiled. “I will change your roots now and prune your branches of acorns, but  you will not change into a perfect Snapplemiffin tree overnight,” he warned.  “Every year I will come and find acorns hidden in your branches, and every year I will prune them if you let me. As time wears on, you will find you will produce more and more Snapplemiffin fruit and less and less acorns.”
                “I still don’t understand something, though,” the oak tree admitted. “I had fruit before. Why were not you pleased by it? Why was I not accepted because of it?”
              “The Snapplemiffin fruit pleases me and glorifies me, but it is not what makes you acceptable to me. What makes you acceptable to me is not a work you do, but the work my son did to make a way for you to become a Snapplemiffin tree. If you trust his work to be enough to change you and truly let me do this work, you will be acceptable to me.  Before, you put on fruit because your roots desired to please and be accepted by others. Your roots’ desires revealed what kind of tree you were-an unchanged oak tree that still loved its acorns. Now that you are accepting my son’s sacrifice to make you into a Snapplemiffin tree, I am accepting you for that. No fruit you try to put on by yourself will please me, for that is only fake fruit. I must first change you and accepted you as my tree. Only then will you begin to produce real fruit that pleases and glorifies me.  Every true Snapplemiffin tree has fruit. But tacking on Snapplemiffin fruit does not make a tree a Snapplemiffin tree. Any tree can tack on fruit. Only I, the orchard owner can change an oak tree into a true Snapplemiffin tree. Will you let me change your roots now?”

Bridge May Be Icy- A Picture of God's Faithfulness

The sign at left makes me smile every time I see it. When I was younger, it amused me to see this sign over bridges in the heat of summer. I remember asking why they didn't take those silly signs down in summer, and I remember answering myself that it would be a lot of work to take down the signs just for the summer months, and that, after all, it did make me smile to see those signs when it was 90 degrees outside!

But that's not why I smile when I see that sign now. I smile now, because that sign reminds me of the faithfulness of God.

November 16, 2008 I passed over an icy bridge, and the car I was in spun out of control. I had just seen pictures from a friend of a car some of her friends had been driving which had also recently spun out of control, crashing the car, and leaving them both dead. I remember screaming out a prayer for help. I remember safely making it off the bridge. I remember stepping outside the car with the driver to look at the damage to the car. I think I was really just relieved and grateful at that point. I think I would've been ok. But then another car came up over that same bridge, spun out of control, and flipped upside down on the guardrail. It spun several times, before safely returning to the bridge. I'll never forget the sound of screeching metal mixed with the screams from my own voice as the car and its passengers teetered for several seconds between life and death.

And that unfortunately was not the end of the night. Several other cars came flipping and crashing over the bridge on front of me that night. I was terrified the whole time, afraid I might see the deaths of several helpless individuals, who were driving down the road, completely unaware of the dangers that faced them at the top of the hill where the bridge had turned to slick ice. I remember I was so scared, it became hard to breathe, and I remember gluing my hands to my ears to keep from hearing the screeching metal.

Miraculously, no one was severely injured that night. Several cars were flipped and crashed, but God kept all the passengers safe. I wish I could say that was reassuring to me. I wish I could say that the horrors of that night stayed in that night, but they didn't. The next time I went to cross that bridge, I felt all the same fears and panic rise up in me again. I found myself paralyzed with memories of that night, and it was all I could do to keep from crying. I felt sick to my stomach, and I wasn't sure what was happening to me.

That bridge was on my way to church, and I had to cross it four times a week to get to and from church every week for the rest of the winter. And every week for several months, no matter how hard I tried to reassure myself that God was in control, and I had no fear of death, for then I would finally get to be away from the troubles of this world and be with him in my true home, I felt the same way.

I tried several things to keep the panic from rising. I tried hiding my face in my lap the whole ride there and back so I wouldn't know when we were approaching the bridge so my body wouldn't know to bring back all the images, sounds and horrors of the night, but somehow, my body knew every time. I tried burying myself in conversation with those around me, trying to distract myself from the fact that I had to cross that bridge, but somehow, I couldn't push it from my mind. Most of all, though, every time I crossed the bridge, I prayed and begged God to take away the images and sounds in my mind, but every week, I continued to feel them resurface. I had recently gotten my driving permit, but I had no desire to drive, especially over that bridge.

But God is faithful. ^"The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him." Lamentations 3:22-24.

He did not leave me in the state I was in forever. He allowed Satan to assault me for a while so I could gain a greater closeness with him and learn complete dependence on him, and then one day, the feelings and images and fears I felt as I crossed the bridge just disappeared.

Every time I see that sign and cross that bridge today, I smile, remembering God's faithfulness. He DOES answer prayer. Not always in my timing, but always perfectly in His, which is FAR better than my own. And sometimes, it's in the waiting for my prayers to be answered that I learn what it means to hope in Him, and just how merciful and faithful He is in withholding what I want to give me what is best.

And when I see that sign and remember his faithfulness to heal me from the effects of that night, I'm also reminded of the other ways He is faithful for which I am so grateful:

I'm grateful that He is faithful and never changes. I never have to worry that one day I'll wake up, and He'll no longer be a good God and He'll hate me. I'm grateful I never have to worry about Him changing His mind and making me earn His love, for I would never be able to do that on my own. I can only trust in what Jesus has earned for me.

I'm grateful that because He is faithful and never changes I can read the Bible which was written thousands of years ago, and I can know what my God is like today.

I'm grateful that through His faithfulness, the promises he made will never change and that he will never fail me or leave me.

But most of all, I'm grateful he didn't give me my way when I was a rebel, a sinner, needing his mercy and the substitute sacrifice of Jesus. I'm grateful for His faithfulness to continue to convict me of sin, and show me that true forgiveness is easily found in the cross: easy for me, but it was not for Jesus.

"God, who has called you into fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful." 1 Corinthians 1:9