Last October I tagged along with hubby to Home Depot to pick up a couple of packs of fasteners. At the front entrance, the display of mums caught my attention! I was smitten! We wound up bringing two pots of mums back home with us!
These two pots of mums brought me so much joy throughout the month of October!
I absolutely loved their bloom color! I wished I could somehow figure out how to overwinter them so that I could enjoy them year after year. I was pretty sure mums were a perennial plant.
When my son received several pots of mums the year before as house-warming gifts, I had confidently told him to just plant them in the flowerbed and they would come back in the Spring. But … they did not come back in the Spring. I couldn’t figure out why not. I didn’t want the same fate to happen to my two happy pots of mums.
So … I did a Google search. What I discovered is that the Fall mums are so busy putting all of their plant-energy into blooming, that they do not have enough energy stored in their roots to be able to make it through winter, if you plant them in the ground after blooming.
After a plant blooms, it needs time for its roots to grow strong. It is the strength of the roots and the energy stored in the roots which then sustains the plant through wintertime.
Mums which naturally grow according to nature’s cycle usually bloom in the spring/summer, just like any normal flowering perennial plant. This gives them the Fall months to develop strong roots to be able to survive the winter … so that they can come back again the next Spring.
Armed with this information, I embarked on a quest to overwinter my mums. I have never attempted to overwinter anything before. First off, I deadheaded the spent blooms … as you can see here:
I then transplanted each mum to a larger pot. I was dismayed to discover that the roots of both plants were terribly unhealthy and rootbound! There’s no way they would have survived in the pots they were originally in.
I then set the two pots of mums in the workshop, next to a big south-facing window, where they would be protected from the freezing temperatures of winter while still receiving some sunlight. (I did this near the end of November)
I wasn’t sure what to expect. I sure hoped they wouldn’t die. Here you can see the two pots of mums in mid-December. They weren’t dead. Yay!
December marched on into January. I didn’t go out to the workshop much, since hubby and his buddy have been doing their woodworking projects out there. But with January coming to an end, I decided to check on the mums to see how they were doing.
Alas, the one in the black pot appeared to be completely dead.
But wait a minute! Is that a tiny tuft of green I see down amongst the dead plant matter??
Lo and behold … check it out! All the original plant matter died … but the plant itself isn’t dead! Whoo Hoo!! Check out that new little bit of green life emerging down near the base!
I went right away and got my hand pruners to trim off all the original dead plant matter. With all that dead stuff gone, the new little green growth coming out at the base has plenty of room to grow! It can get more sunlight now! It is definitely growing! I’m so excited about the new life emerging!
Here you can see the second mum in its white pot. Its original plant matter is in the process of dying as well.
But if you look way down in there, at the very base of the plant, this one has new life emerging also! There is life in the roots of both plants!
As I pondered the mum foliage dying off, making way for brand-new life to emerge from the base … this passage of Scripture came to mind:
“For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. … Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.
“… You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.” – Colossians 3:3-10
I couldn’t help but think how this is a beautiful picture of what it is like when we make the decision to follow Jesus Christ.
Each one of us is born with a natural inclination and proclivity to do and say things which are wrong. Sometimes we intentionally do and say things which we know full well are wrong, for personal gain and to “get ahead.” Other times we unintentionally do or say things which cause harm or sadness in the lives of others.
All the bad things we do is called: sin.
The Bible says that because we are sinners, the punishment for our sin is death. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” – Romans 6:23
Just like my pots of mums were bound and destined for death (once-and-for-all final death) … so also, each one of us is bound and destined for death (once-and-for-all final death in hell). That’s a very unpleasant thought!
But the above verse states that God offers a gift of eternal life. I don’t want my mums to die once-and-for-all. I want my mums to continue living! I want to enjoy my mums for many many years! So also, in the same way, none of us want to die. Something deep down inside each of us knows that death is not the way it’s supposed to be. We each have a deep-down desire to live forever and ever! Wouldn’t that be amazing!
The good news is … we can live forever and ever!
Whoo Hoo! This is awesome!
Just like my mums needed “new roots” in order to have “new life” … so also, in the same way, each one of us need “new roots” at our very core.
Jesus Christ offers to give us “new roots.” Jesus Christ offers to take away our “old roots” – our old sinful inclination to do wrong – and Jesus offers to give us “new roots” at our very core.
“Because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ …” – Ephesians 2:4-6
Just like my two pots of mums have new life coming up from the base … so also, this is what Jesus does for us! Deep in the “soil” of our heart (just like my mums’ roots down in the soil of their new pots) where nobody can see what’s going on, Jesus re-makes our “roots.” Jesus takes away all the old sinfulness at our very core. And Jesus gives us brand-new “roots” – a brand-new nature at our very core.
No longer do we want to do the bad sinful things we used to do.
“Put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires, and be made new in the attitude of your mind; put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” – Ephesians 4:22-24
Just like the old growth of my mums has died, so also the old way we used to live likewise “dies off.”
– No longer does anger control us. That “dies off.”
– No longer do we lie constantly and continually in order to make ourselves look good to others, or to get ahead. That “dies off.”
– No longer do we steal and cheat and take whatever we can in order to get ahead. That “dies off.”
– No longer do we talk about things which are inappropriate. That “dies off.”
– No longer do we hold onto bitterness and resentment against someone else. That “dies off.”
– No longer do we enjoy gossiping and slandering other people. That “dies off.”
If the old dead stuff hangs around it will stifle and stunt the new growth which is trying to emerge at the base.
In the same way, if we continue to “hang on” to our sinful ways – if we continue to hang on to our bitterness; if we continue to hang on to our slandering and our gossiping about others; etc. etc. … – that sin in our life will stifle and stunt the new growth which Jesus is trying to bring out from our base … from the “new roots” he has given us!
That’s why the pruners are important!
That’s why we need to let Jesus take his Heavenly “pruners” and trim off all the “old dead stuff” of sin in our life.
The passage in Ephesians states: “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.” – Ephesians 4:31
Chop that “dead stuff” off and get rid of it!
“Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.
“… You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.” – Colossians 3:3-10
The new growth coming up from my mums will eventually become lush, green, and beautiful … with gorgeous blooms! I will be able to plant these two mums in the flowerbeds this coming Spring. And they will make my flowerbed a beautiful place!
Someone whose life has been transformed by Jesus Christ will likewise have a life which is “flourishing and beautiful” … covered in gorgeous “blooms”!
What do “blooms” in the life of a Jesus-follower look like??
* Compassion
* Kindness
* Humility
* Gentleness
* Patience
* Forgiveness
* Unity
* Gratitude / Thankfulness
* Love
We each are like these mums.
We each are destined for once-and-for-all final death. But we have the opportunity for everlasting eternal life! We have the opportunity to have our “roots” made new! What an incredible offer!
Have you had your “roots” made new??
If you have accepted Jesus’s offer to give you “new roots” at your very core … have you allowed the “old dead stuff” to “die off” and be pruned away??
If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, does your life have “blooms”?? Or is it just a bunch of “old dead stuff” choking out the new growth and new life which Jesus is trying to bring out from your base?
