Dear Saints.
Happy birthday USA! To celebrate we will do something different this year, we will celebrate the birth of this nation with fireworks! Wait a second, we do that every year- celebrate the birth of this nation with something that is so Chinese, after all the Chinese were the ones who created fireworks. Now with the trade wars going on to fire anything made in China will cost you more. Nevertheless, I am going to enjoy looking toward the skies at the fireworks on the Fourth of July, hoping my life will shine for Jesus much longer than the fireworks lighting the skies that night.
Speaking of lasting a long time, have you ever noticed there are some plants that are weak and fragile and extremely hard to keep alive, no matter what you do? You follow the care instructions to the letter when you bring them home. You place them in full sun, and make sure they have plenty of water. You even play music and talk to them en-couraging them to live and grow. Still, the leaves start to wilt right away and before long they die. Nothing you did could prevent the funeral service for your plant. You followed the directions for taking care of the plant right down to the letter but now you have an empty plant pot. A reminder of your loss.
Such are some of us who give our lives to Jesus. The cares of this world choke the seed and soon we are back to our old ways. We like the fireworks that make a big sound and impress others around us with a great show of light, but soon after we fizzle into the night. Then there are some who are like a plant that Maria’s mom gave us that is tenacious to say the least. It’s called “Hen and Chicks” and seems to be a succulent of some type, sort of like an aloe vera plant. How’s this for care instructions? 1. Set the plant outside. Done. Finished. Are you kidding me? What about watering it? Nope it is good. Does it need shade? Nope. Full sun is fine. Just set it outside and walk away. Talk about the “John Wayne” of plants! We sat the plant outside on our balcony in the spring last year and it did well. When summer came I thought for sure the humidity and hard, hot summer days with heat indexes hitting 105+ degrees would kill it. Nope, it just continues to live and not only live but also thrive. Fall passed and now winter was coming I started to bring the plant inside because here in St. Louis we have extreme heat in the summer time and our winters can be just as brutal with temperatures dropping well below zero. It might have survived the severe heat of the summer but the extreme cold of our winters would surely kill it. Maria stopped me and said to just leave it outside. I protested vigorously and said it would be a death sentence for it. She said it would go dormant but it would live and come back in the spring. I began to rehearse the “I told you so” song for the spring. But here it is a year later in July and that plant is rocking it! It looks fantastic. I want to be like that plant. No matter how hard life gets I want to bloom and flourish for my king.
Here is to having care instructions that say “just place them outside” and no matter the storms or how hard life gets we will bloom for our King!
This is a great article! So true. Thanks for sharing.