"When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth."
- Genesis 8:11 (NIV)
You know the feeling.
You have stood where Noah stood.
You've known your share of floods.
And you've needed what Noah needed; you've needed some hope.
Hope is an olive leaf - evidence of dry land after a flood.
Don't we love the olive leaves of life?
What's more, don't we love the doves that bring them?
From the grove of grace and the tree of life, God brings leaves to us.
Grace and Life.
Forgiveness of sin.
The defeat of death.
This is the hope He gives.
This is the hope we need.
What do you do with olive leaves?
You pass them around.
You don't stick them in your pocket.
You give them to the ones you love.
Love does that.
Love extends an olive leaf to the loved one and says,
"I have hope in you."
Love is just as quick to say, "I have hope for you."
Paul said,"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God"- 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (NIV)
Don't know what to say?
Your Bible is a basket of leaves.
"For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope."
- Romans 15:4 (NIV)
Won't you share one?
Excerpts from "A Love Worth Giving" by Max Lucado
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