Petrified trees are amazing! They look exactly like a tree but are solid stones. They are created when a tree is buried by sand and water. Over time the organic material is replaced by minerals, cell by cell. Water containing dissolved minerals flows through the buried tree replacing the organic material, preserving the tree’s shape but turning it to stone. However, as amazing as the stone tree is, it is a stone. It is dead. All organic, living material is gone. It can never grow. It can never bear fruit again. And sadly, this is what happens to many of us in our lives. We get buried beneath layers of this world’s ideologies – “enlightened” ideas, pride, greed, the pursuit of self – and over time as this tainted water flows through us our spiritual heart is replaced by a worldly heart, cell by cell. Finally, we have the shape of one made in God’s image, but we are stone – never able to grow God’s fruit. However, God can still work with us. “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.” (Ezekiel 36:26-27). If your life seems lifeless, let God work his miracle in you – life from death, and see his fruits flourish in you (Galatians 5:22-23). Open Bible – http://bit.ly/eze36v26-27, http://bit.ly/gal5v22-23
