I need to Die... The secret to LIFE



Rothenburg ob der Tauber 2011 St Jakob 002 (Wiki)



The Wood Carver

The smell of saw dust and morning dew fills his body with electricity. Arthur can feel his mind kick over, like the motor on his chain saw, coming alive. The scent of cut wood and well-worn tools in the shop cause his eyes to widen and heart to pump faster. Another day has come, another opportunity to get closer.

It started with a large tree trunk, Red Wood, 9 feet tall and 6 feet in diameter. He used a chain saw at first, gauging chunks away at a time. But as the form took shape he put the power tools down and switched to his knife, chisels, and mallet.

Arthur Holtz enjoyed his life’s work with vigor and passion. Many of his old friends mocked him. “… throwing away all that talent on one lifelong project, when he could be selling smaller, more manageable works for a fortune!” Arthur ignored them, cut ties, and kept working. They’d never understand. This was his purpose for being.

Arthur didn’t notice at first, when the form had not yet taken shape… but as the details began to become apparent, he realized he had one problem.

The overgrowth.

Every morning, the work he had completed the day before was over grown with vines, weeds, moss, and thorns. He would have to spend the first part of the morning cleaning up the overgrowth, before continuing his venture toward the image buried in his minds’ eye.

If he dared to leave it alone for a week at a time, he could hardly recognize the work he had completed, buried beneath the new growth. The tendency to delay for weeks or months at a time, then work in binges was counterproductive and hard. He would spend more time undoing the new overgrowth then getting the image brought forward.

Therefore, he made a decision to keep working daily, instead of binging on his work. It was an easy and enjoyable task when done daily. The real image, the image that this tree was meant to bear, was buried beneath the outer shell and growth of the world around it.

Galatians 2:20 NIV

http://www.biblestudytools.com/galatians/2-20.html

20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

The secret to living a full LIFE, is to die.. to self. We were born with an old sin nature, thanks to the First Adam. The Second Adam caused us to be reborn. The Image of The One is inside of us. However, the only way to access that image is to die to self and allow His Image to come forth.

We must daily die to self, and let the image of God come through a little more each day.

Arthur, common nickname: Art

HOLTZ (wood) (used for someone whose occupation involved wood),

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And now I leave you with a question:

So... Are you carving daily?

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By Darrell Wolfe

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