Death. Beautiful death. God is so amazing, he makes the life, and even death, of a simple tree so beautiful.

While looking around campus, I see many of the trees' leaves transforming into beautiful shades of red, orange, burgundy and yellow.

Each and every tree has a trunk and strong branches that extend out with hundreds of leaves that bud off of them. This reminds me of God and how he has given each of us life and nourishment so that we may grow into the individual "leaf". Each one of them is different; each one of them has a journey. Wow.... that sounds really familiar...

Trees are a symbol of God and how we are all created by him, we are made in His image; he is the trunk and we are the leaves. Each one of us has a life span and we grow old and we age gracefully until we eventually pass and fall either towards or away from God our creator.

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This makes me think of the Bible verse in Isaiah, Isaiah 53:6 to be exact. It reads, "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all" (NIV). Th saying, "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree" is true in this case; we are either falling closer or away from Jesus if we choose to come closer to him. Or we could be swept up with other "leaves" and debris and be taken far from the strength of God.

There is also another passage where Jesus is talking about seeds and how they blow different places and do not take root. Every leaf has seeds and every leaf drops those seeds; sometimes the soil is good and it springs up, sometimes it blows somewhere where it does not grow. When we decide to follow Jesus and fall near him, we can spread our seeds and tell other people so that they can have God too, but sometimes it falls on barren soil and others on good soil. It is all up to God.

The seeds are not done and finished and neither is death the end. God made the death of leaves to be a sign to us. Death is not tragic and dark, it is a celebration because we are with God for eternity.

So, while you are drinking pumpkin spice lattes and picking apples, just think, are you drawing close to him or falling away? But also remember, when you believe in Him, God is your strength and will never let you go.