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I walked to work each morning on a pathway lined with trees
Enjoying the freshness of the air, breathing in the breeze.
I used to watch them changing in colour and in form
With each new season how those trees with beauty were adorned.
In springtime, rain and sunshine warmed the sap that flowed within,
And tiny bumps soon sprouted forth new leaves on every limb.
In summer's heat, the branches now mature with foliage dense
The trees provided shade for me, a cooling calming sense.
I used to walk more slowly down the path when autumn came
For the trees were far more beautiful than I could now explain,
From green to yellow, then to gold, the leaves began to change
With orange and red and russet, showing varied-coloured veins.
And looking up in wonder through the colours 'painted' there,
The sky seemed so much bluer -- more crisp and clean the air.
And what a perfect backdrop for artwork such as this,
The puffy clouds a perfect touch to accent this canvas.
But as the winds blew harder and those leaves began to fall,
I often watched and wondered why it didn't move them all.
Some leaves clung on throughout the storms of snow and ice and sleet,
It seemed amazing that those stems would not admit defeat!
The weeks and months of winter passed, yet still they hung on tight
Now dead and brown and ugly, those leaves kept up the fight.
And only when the springtime came with temperatures so warm
Were those dead leaves forced to separate, give up and flutter down.
The lesson that I learned from this is awesome yet so true
The dead old things of days gone by cannot exist with new!
For inside flows the sap and by its life new growth is shown
Producing leaves and fruit that demonstrate how each has grown.
And isn't that just like the way that God within us lives?
New life and beauty springing forth, new hope and worth He gives.
Those clinging habits, sinful ways, that grab and weigh us down,
All have to go when life through Christ within us makes its home.
God's Spirit flows within us, our hearts to cleanse and free,
And though miraculous indeed, His love is seen in me!
All through the seasons of my life new changes come about
The more I let Him lead the way, the more I'm finding out.
One by one I see them go, the things that clung to me
The hurtful thoughts or feelings that would sting incessantly.
But through the windows of my soul, God's love comes pouring through,
Restoring and creating something good and all things new.
I love Him for the splendor in the trees that He has made,
And for the pleasure that I find when standing in their shade.
But most of all I love Him for the truth He's shown to me,
"I am the Sap within you and I've come to set you free."
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