~ Vegan Word Pictures of
Christian Growth ~
As a Seed (in steadiness) ~ “And
He [Jesus] said, ‘The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the
ground, and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout
and grow, he himself does not know how.
For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head,
after that the full grain in the head.
But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because
the harvest has come’” (Mark 4:26-29).
As a Lily (in lowliness) ~ “I will heal their
backsliding, I will love them freely, for My anger has turned away from him. I will be like the
dew to Israel; he shall grow like the lily” (Hosea 14:4-5a).
As a Palm (in uprightness) ~ “The righteous
shall flourish like a palm tree” (Psalm 92:12a).
As a Cedar (in strength) ~ “…he shall grow
like a cedar in Lebanon. Those who are
planted in the house of the Lord shall
flourish in the courts of our God. They
shall still bear fruit in old age; they shall be fresh and flourishing, to
declare that the Lord is upright;
He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him” (Psalm 92:12b-15).
As a Vine (in fruitfulness) ~ “Those who dwell under His shadow shall
return; they shall be revived like grain, and grow like a vine. Their scent shall be like the wine of Lebanon” (Hosea 14:7).
As a Tree (in continuance) ~ “He shall be like a
tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper” (Psalm 1:3).
~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW
