Whirlybirds



Maple Seeds at Maple Grove



"So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth" (1 Corinthians 3:7).

When I was a young child I called Maple seeds "helicopters" or "whirlybirds."  I used to love to chase after them and try to snatch them out of the air.  As the seeds mature and are released from the trees, they immediately begin to rotate and spin. Floating and scattering to the ground below, each has the potential to develop and grow into a tall Maple tree.

We have a lot of Maple trees at Maple Grove. So many tender Maple saplings sprout up in our flower beds that we have to pull them out.  We replant some of them in pots of dirt, water them, and nurture them along. 

That's how it is with God's Word.  He is the Author.  He delivers His Word to us so that when we read or hear it, the Holy Spirit produces new spiritual growth within us. 

"No one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit" (1 Corinthians 2:11-13).