A brightly colored pile of leaves drew my attention. They looked like gems scattered casually on the ground. Rubies, topazes, and emeralds brushed into a wind-whipped stack by the curb.
It was breath-taking, in more ways than one. Great beauty piled so haphazardly on the street. Splashes of deep color thrown against the grays of concrete and asphalt. As I kicked through the pathway they made for my steps, I marveled at the gift God had created for me out of fallen leaves. An afternoon wind will blow them all away. But for just a moment, God placed a carpet of beauty in my path. Would I see His smile? Would I notice His hand?
Turning around to look at the pocket of gems on the ground one more time, I was struck by another deep truth. If God is willing to invest so much rich beauty in leaves that will literally be gone in a couple of hours, how much beauty is He willing to pour into me? He will shape a leaf that is here today and gone tomorrow with a wonder that leaves me breathless. The transformation He wants to work in me carries with it a beauty that will last into eternity.
Jesus told us this in the Sermon on the Mount. “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?” – Matthew 6:28-30.
I have always read this passage in a physical sense. God will give us the basic necessities as we need them. No need to worry about food and clothes. But today the leaves on the ground show me a new truth. Galatians 3:27 tells us “For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” Jesus doesn’t just promise to provide for the physical. In His words about clothing us, He promises to give us the beauty of Himself.
My Jesus Resolution today is to notice the leaves and look in the mirror. The beauty God has created all around us is meant to point us to the beauty that He wants to pour into us – the beauty of Jesus. I am going to look in the mirror of God’s Word and surrender to the transformation He wants to work in my heart. I am going to pick up a leaf and smile. A little beauty here is a window into the greater beauty of Jesus.
Casandra Martin 
This really spoke to my heart. I recently spent $7.98 for a small bag of acorns to place on the wash stand in my front entry to go with the brown oak leaves there at the foot of a tile lettered with: “Watch for falling leaves.” I do miss the bright colored leaves that we see in other places……but not in the Texas panhandle.