Insignificant in Life, Glorious in Death

There’s a tree at the end of my street that is unfairly beautiful right now. It’s nice enough throughout the rest of the year, but in the early autumn it turns a vibrant red. I slow down whenever I drive past just to marvel at it.

There’s something somber about this tree. It spends its entire year like any other tree, taken for granted or glanced at with mild appreciation once in a while.

Throughout the seasons for growing and maturing, this tree doesn’t stand out. But come fall and the first freezing days, it bursts into radiance—into flame.

It is insignificant in life but glorious in death.

So it is with the most humble among us. We might serve all our lives without fame, yet we may prove all the more prepared to leave this world with dignity, hope, and even glory…

This is much of the Christian life: servanthood and insignificance, transfigured at last into eternal glory.

Just something to think about as the leaves bid their beautiful farewells…