Monday, February 13, 2023

            In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “See how the flowers of the field grow” (Matthew 6:28).  Some Bibles quote the Lord as saying, “consider the lilies.”  By simply pointing to something in nature and close by, He made a powerful theological statement.  A life-lesson for us really.  He was saying that by observing nature we can learn some wonderful truths about our relationship with God and how we can count on Him.  We find at least five lessons in this one simple statement from Jesus.
            First, God made those flowers.  And just as surely, God made us.  We are fashioned and created by His hands.  The Bible says, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb” (Psalm 139:13).  We are not the products of accidents or random chance.  God made us and put us together.  Just as God made Adam from the dust of the earth and Eve from Adam, He has made you as well.  We are His handiwork.
            Second, God cares for those flowers.  He provides for them.  He sends both rain and sunshine.  He gives them the ability to produce blooms and leaves.  Jesus said in Matthew 6:28, “see how they grow.”  God allows these flowers to take shape and surge into life.  We are blessed by what they become when we enjoy their beauty.  Likewise, we trust God to take care of us—to meet our needs and to provide for us daily.  Jesus commands us to seek God first and to trust Him to provide for us each day.  God knows what we need for each day.
            Third, these flowers bear the fingerprints of God.  They did not come into existence out of nothing.  These flowers did not suddenly spring up from nowhere.  God made them as we read in the creation story in Genesis 1.  So too, we did not come from nothing (bad grammar aside).  We were not delivered to earth by aliens.  God made men and women in His image.  We bear the evidence of His handiwork and intentional design.
            Fourth, these flowers bring glory to God.  They show off His creative power and abundant imagination.  God pronounced the creation to be “good.”  And it still is.  Nature bears witness to the glory of God and His infinite ability to create things that are good and beautiful.  With our lives, we too can bring glory to God.  By how we live, by the choices we make, by the manner of our faith, we can bring glory to God.  We do not have to pretend to be someone or something that we are not.  We can bring glory as we are, where we are by serving Him with the moments He gives us.
            And fifth, these flowers bloomed where they were planted.  They did not jealously desire to be planted on the other side of the road or in a different city or village.  We might occasionally wish we had something new or lived somewhere different or even had a better job.  But we can bloom where we are planted.  We can bring God glory in the circumstances that we encounter each day.  We can serve Him in our family, our place of work, our community or school.  We can bless others and glorify God by what we have been given.
            As winter ends and spring approaches, we can learn much from nature as it returns to life and a new season begins.  God has lessons to teach us and truths we can
learn scattered across His glorious creation.  As we prepare for Spring, we learn the greatest lesson of all as we experience Good Friday and Easter—learning that Jesus gave His life so we could be forgiven and live forever.  We are grateful that God made His grace known to us in the early days of the years so we could trust that grace every day and in every way.  Jesus reminded us near the end of Matthew 6 that we are to “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33).  Have a great Monday and remember you can share our worship with others at youtube.com/FirstBaptistKannapolis.