Bare

"You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways."

Psalm 139:3 (NIV)

Autumn.  The time of year when God pulls out his paintbrush and colors the trees in golden hues.  In New England, we measure autumn by the "peak" of the leaf color.  Usually, around early October, the leaves are at the brightest colors they will be throughout the autumn season.  As the season grows on, the leaves turn from their bright hues to a bit more dull.  

Once the colors have dimmed, the leaves fall.  For many people, you will hear heavy sighs as the clean up routines start - raking, blowing, bagging, etc.  As much as I love the beautiful colors, I also enjoy this time of year - the leaves crunch beneath your feet, you realize how many leaves the tree in front of you actually had, and by looking at those leaves, you realize how each one is different.

Inevitably, a day of strong wind comes and the leaves come tumbling to the ground.  We had that type of day yesterday.  The wind gusts were strong and leaves that weren't strongly attached flew through the air and landed softly on the green grass.  What is left is the bare tree, with bright light shining where once leaves were masking the light.  As I watched the leaves fly and land, my mind was led to thoughts of all of us.

Each day, we cover ourselves in many things.  It could be physical clothing.  Yet, as we look deeper, we might find us covering ourselves with other things.  We may be clothed in excuses for our poor behavior.  We may be clothed in guilt for our sins.  We may be clothed in our pride, boasting of all our great accomplishments.  We may be clothed in judgement of others.  Think about this - what have each of us been clothed in lately?  What has our behavior shown the world around us?

In steps our glorious Savior.  As we may be clothed with behaviors or actions that don't align with Christ, He can see past all of that to our bare selves.  As our verse for today shares, God knows our every move, our every thought - He knows all of OUR ways.  Yet, despite all of our imperfect actions, He continues to walk with us.  He looks past our dulled "leaves" to see our bare beauty. 

Jesus knows that although, at times, we may walk in paths that don't shine His light, He looks past our sinful nature to a bare strong "tree".   That bare tree is what is left when everything else is gone.  It is who we are once all we are clothed in is released - and only our bare souls are left.  That is what Jesus sees - that is where He looks when He sees us.  As we walk on this Earth each day, we need to also look at the bare souls of those that we meet.  Look past what they are clothed in to see the truth of who they are.  Look at others as Jesus looks at us - the bare tree.  Maybe then we will see the light of Jesus in all people.

Dearest Jesus, I ask that you look past my clothing of despair and see the bare soul that reaches out to you.  Help me to do the same with all people that I meet.  May they see your light shining from me and may I see the same in them.  Help us to rid our "dullness" and let the light shine through our bare branches.  In your name I pray.  Amen!