A Time to Die

A Time to Die

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower.  He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and everyone that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit.” (John 15: 1-3)

There are times and seasons in life. (Ecclesiastes 3:1)  There is a time to be born and a time to die says Qoheleth in the same chapter.  The time to die corresponds to the negative period in our lives.  This period brings the type of pain which refines us for the purpose of making us richer in the true treasures of life.  

1995 to the end of 1996 was a time of dying for me.  During this period which I call my desert experience, I developed the concept of the 6 war zones.  They are:

1. Family


2. Health


3. Money


4. Job


5. Tools


6. Food

In the desert, I was chastened and pruned on each of the above and on all of them at the same time.  Before my desert experience, I had seen the 6 war zones through the eyes of flesh.  I had a world-view which is different from the mind of Christ.  I saw life as one uninterrupted pleasure and happiness for anyone who is a child of God.  I did not understand the notion of the Christian cross nor was I prepared to accept it.  My desert experience changed my world-view completely.  Today, I try to put on the mind of Christ on each of the items in the 6 war zones.  “What is the mind of Christ on money for me?”  I walk by the light that I receive on this question on everything that concerns money.  

Thank you Jesus for the desert experience.