Scripture Reading: Luke 12:25-28; Matthew 6:28-40
“Can any of you by worrying add an hour to his life? If you can’t do a little thing like that, why worry about the rest? Think about the wild irises, and how they grow. They neither work nor spin thread; yet, I tell, not even Shlomo (Solomon) in all his glory was clothed as beautifully as one of these. If this is how God clothes grass, which is alive in the field today and thrown in the oven tomorrow, how much more will he clothe you! What little trust you have!” (Luke 12:25-28)
“Consider the lilies…” Luke 12:27
Flowers! What a beautiful gift God gave us when He created flowers!
“What is your favorite flower?” they sometimes ask me.
How can I tell!
Nothing can compare to the spicy scent of the Carnation.
And how could we live without the common bright-eyed Daisy!
Or the comical, sad—faced Pansy, whose German name, “Stiefmuetterchen,” (step—mother’s child), so fits its description with its sad looking little face!
The Forget—me—not that leaves me with nostalgic memories! The first-of-the-year Snow Drop, that so bravely pushes its way up through the ice and snow around it, and tells the world, long before Easter Morn, that Christ is Risen!
The lavender and mauve Crocus that greeted me on the side of the road as I walked to school in the early spring mornings of a Saskatchewan countryside.
And then, there was the Buttercup, filling the landscape with its golden “butter.” We children used to test to see if our friends liked butter by putting the flower up to each other’s chins. If it left its brilliant yellow powder on the skin it was proof that we were butter-eaters! — What farmer’s daughter isn’t?
I will never forget the patches of wild roses, fragrant and colourful, which I dared to pick, in spite of thorns. And the Rose-hips that temporarily satisfied our after-school hunger on the long walk home from school. Little did we know then that they were full of Vitamin C!
The Tulips and Daffodils that vie with each other to decorate our Easter table.
And what is that lovely perfume wafting through my open window? Oh, yes, what else could it be? “Do the Lilacs grow in any other part of town!” The scent is so fragrant, and the mauve coloured tiny flowers so lush that I bury my nose in them and tears of emotion sting my eyes.
And then, there is the delicate, sweet fragrance of the Lily of the Valley which reminds me of my Saviour, Who is most precious to me when my life passes through its “valley experiences.”
And let us not pass by the purple Violet, who is not too humble to grow in the dark forests, unseen by the world, and spread its royal carpet for heavenly guests.
The Peony, that takes me back to Western China, on the border of Tibet, where its blossom grew so large and beautifully fragrant that it was like a gift from Eden.
Come with me to Switzerland as we gaze up at that humble chalet in the mountain. It’s so plain it is almost ugly; yet it is beautiful. What is the secret? It must be those window boxes filled with colourful Geraniums — reds, fuchsias and pinks at every window! As if Switzerland didn’t already have more beauty than all the rest of the world put together!
The multicolored Chrysanthemums of China, and their more humble sisters of the Western world, the Asters, that dare to announce to us “The summer is past. ” While, as an expression of pity, they give us one final burst of colour to warm the heart when the leaves are falling, to remind us that even when we are in the autumn part of our lives God still is pleased to colour it with glory.
And then, we close the year with the bright red (or white) “Christmas flower, ” the Poinsettia, which grew wild in bushes the size of small trees in my back yard in Hong Kong.
Shall I go on to the multitudes of less common flowers…the ones we have to repeatedly ask the name of? Names we don’t know and don’t remember. Flowers that cost small fortunes, like the glorious multicolored Orchids I saw in Kalimpong, North India.
I am happy with my lovely flowers, whose names I’ve known since my childhood, or that I have met in my journey through life. In Heaven we will all have flower gardens. And you are welcome to come and visit mine!
Finally, in closing, Jesus told us that He would clothe us like He does the grass of the fields. He wants me to be beautiful too! I don’t need to dress in “blacks” nor other dark colours to please God. What if the only colour of the flowers were black, charcoal grey, navy and dark brown? How drab the world would be!
Let us understand that He Who creates colour appreciates our appreciation of the Father’s handiwork.
Are we of less importance than the grass of the fields, the bush that gives us the American Beauty Rose?
Never!
Put on your pretty coloured dresses and scarves, ladies! Men, wear your colourful clothes. Who said you need to be dressed in battleship grey?
Let us be joyful, and let us adorn ourselves in Garments of Praise, for He Who said to Moses, concerning the priests, “And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy bother, for GLORY AND FOR BEAUTY” (Exodus 28:2), surely shall not forbid us the glow and beauty of colourful and lovely garments! Consider the Lilies!
From the Heart of Jesus by Gwen Shaw
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