God created us to grow in intimacy with him.

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“Righteous people flourish like palm trees
and grow tall like the cedars in Lebanon.”
Psalm 92:12 God’s Word to the Nations

In some ways, winter trees are more appealing to me than summer trees. Don’t get me wrong. I’m looking forward to spring when the leaves once again appear and cloth these branches, yet I love the sculpted feel of the intertwined branches.

Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs, Colorado

These trees become more intricate as they reach into the sky, and so it is with our life in Christ.

These trees keep pushing up, and as they grow their branches also grow, capturing more of the sun and the nourishment they need to continue to grow. For the trees to keep growing the branches must expand.

God has created us to grow both as individuals and as a community.

God wants his baptized to grow together, gaining nourishment from him by caring for each other as Christ cares for his church. We are a community. Growing together is a part of our faith. It’s what God wants for us.

Not only does God intend for his baptized to grow together, he wants each of us to grow in his mercy and grace. God wants to be intimate with us. Evidence of this fact is the meal that he wants to share with us. “Take, eat, this is my body.” “Take, drink, this is my blood.”

We tend to get hung up on the words, “body,” and “blood,” and lose sight that Jesus offers to be intimate with us. This intimacy happens in the context of community. As we experience intimacy with Christ, we also experience intimacy with each other.

As a result we continue to grow as our branches of faith intertwine and reach into the sky.

Copyright Douglas P Brauner