Adoring the True Christmas Plant

            The first garden we planted here disappointed us. I worked the soil repeatedly. We watered the garden faithfully. We pulled weeds. When harvest time came, all our efforts went mainly unrewarded. Although we had a few fresh vegetables to eat, there was nothing to freeze or can. The following year we did the same, but also added fertilizer provided by our neighbor's cattle. The garden improved remarkably. The plants drew their nutrients from the well prepared soil, and hence grew and produced.

            It does not surprise us that a plant will grow in a fertilized, well-watered garden. But in describing the Messiah, Isaiah said, "For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground . . ." The ground in which this tender plant grows is parched and barren. It is land that is sterile for producing life. The dry ground does not describe our Lord, but the world into which He was born. Israel was politically powerless, in subjection to Rome. Rather than reigning as royalty, the house of David was poverty stricken. Jesus did not come as a mighty tree, but as a tender plant. He was the sapling that grew beside the stump of a dead tree. He was born in a stable and grew up in scorned Nazareth as a carpenter. Some suggest the "dry ground" speaks of the virgin birth of our Lord.

            I have taken much pleasure in the beautiful "Christmas plants," we have had. To develop into lovely flowers, the Poinsettia and Amaryllis must have good soil, sufficient water, and a warm environment. They could never survive in the parched land Isaiah describes. Dry ground has nothing to offer a young, tender plant. That soil cannot sustain a plant, let alone cause the plant to thrive. Our wonderful Lord, Jesus Christ, is the real Christmas plant. Yet He grew from a parched land. He is a root that receives nothing from the soil. He does not live because of His surroundings. Rather, His surroundings live because of Him. He is the source of life. His spoke of this when He said, "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."

            How unlike Him we are! We are very much affected by our surroundings. The literature we read, the people we associate with, the music we hear and so many other sources will influence us for good or ill. The world system has nothing to offer the soul but barrenness. Though our blessed Savior thrives in a barren soil, we do not. He has life in Himself, but we have life only in Him.

            Jesus said, "I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing." Our only hope for a fruitful, flourishing life is to be rightly related to Him by salvation and fellowship. We cannot thrive in the barren, dry soil of the world's influence. Our spiritual success depends on continued fellowship with Him, the tender plant and root out of the dry ground. A believer who departs from fellowship with Christ will soon be in a poor, withered, fruitless condition.

            Many of us have an abundance of religious activity but no spiritual vitality. We have the forms of Christianity but no fellowship with Christ. Let us rediscover a life of strength, power, joy and satisfaction which comes only by unbroken fellowship with our blessed Lord. As we enjoy the pretty Christmas flowers, may we draw abundant joy from the true Christmas plant - Jesus Christ, the root out of a dry ground.