Fall is a beautiful time of year. The greenery of the lush trees gradually turn to red, orange and gold in color as they prepare for the upcoming winter when they will lie dormant. These growing and older trees are perennials, meaning they will live for a long time while other beautiful plants that are gorgeous will die with the first freeze. Those plants are annuals, living for only one year before they must be replaced. Their beauty only remains in pictures and memories while perennials return the following spring to bring joy to your heart over and over again.
We humans are blessed in that we have the choice of determining whether our lifespan is of short duration or even more lasting than the perennials, a life for eternity. As Paul's words from his letter to the Romans clearly tells us, God has given us the opportunity for eternal, not just mortal, life if we make our free will decision to believe in His Son and Our Savior, Jesus Christ by faith and thereby make our commitment to live for Him. Living for Him with faithfulness will transform us from mortal life to life everlasting, something so grand and marvelous that we can't even fathom the beauty and glory awaiting us. On the other hand, if we choose not to do so, we will find ourselves just like those annual plants, dying off and never coming back to life again. Our very existence will be miniscule on the timeline of life.
So, this leaves each of us with a question to answer, an answer that is entirely up to us using our free will. Will we be like the annuals, living our life on earth before sinking into darkness or will we live for Our Lord and be like the perennials? Each of us has the opportunity to make that choice and live accordingly while we are still mere mortals here on earth. Choose wisely, my friends, choose wisely.
Dear Lord, We thank you for the beauty of the fall and it's colors and glories. And we also thank you for giving us the opportunity to choose between eternal life or death after mortal life is done. Help us to open our hearts to make the right decision so that we might be granted a seat at that glorious table in heaven above when our time here is over. We ask in Jesus' name, Amen.