Wild Flowers or Weeds?

But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Matthew 6:30 KJV

In the days before hay bales were 1,000 pound rolls we used to pile them on the hay wagon and stack them in the barn. My favorite job was to sit on the top of them bales as we the truck slowly chugged across the fields to the barn. The slight breeze felt deliciously cool against my face and the aroma of the freshly cut grass smelled like perfume. I remember looking down and seeing wildflowers of every imaginable shape and color. They were nestled in among the remnants of the hay showing off their beauty. That scene remains in my heart reminding me of God’s artistry in the simplest things. All around us He leaves behind reflections of His grace.

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Imagine now that this God, who has taken such care in each detail of a wild flower, has also made you and I. It may seem that the world passes us by, but instead of seeing flowers, they see us only as weeds. Weeds grow where they are not wanted and where no one has planted them. Maybe we ourselves pass by some people without noticing a single thing of beauty. But all around the world God’s wildflowers are on display to remind us that He is involved in every life and that every life has value.

Flowers are not concerned that their time here is short, nor are they worried what others think. In the brief hours that God has given them they simply give all that they have. They are at peace knowing that the hand that crafted them will care for them. If days come in your life when everything seems dark, remember that as He cares for wildflowers. He will certainly care for you!

Just as Day is Breaking

Every morning Jesus is standing at the shore in our life. He is waiting for us to recognize Him and come running. He has watched us all night as we worked hard without him to fish.

Jesus is waiting at our shore eagerly anticipating our arrival with fresh bread and fish on the fire. He is willing to share all He has with us when we pull in our nets once more at His command.

Jesus is standing on our shore waiting for us to see Him, waiting to share and waiting with a question. “Do you love Me?”.

Let us answer as Peter did, “Lord you know all things. You know that I love you.”

Then Jesus reminds us all once again. “Feed my sheep!”

Critical Updates

Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths.
Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long. Psalm 25:5 ESV

Did you receive the warning to download the most recent critical updates to your windows operating system this week? If not be aware that you really do need to get that done. When I saw the alert, I confess that at first I simply hurried on hoping that nothing would go wrong. Impatience and procrastination teamed up to convince me that it couldn’t happen to me.  But in the back of my mind were those pesky memories of long hours struggling to extract malware, viruses and other assorted electronic ne’er do wells.

In the same way we need to pay attention when the Bible tells us to download God’s latest spiritual updates. Those updates come included in the new operating system for our lives called “The Word of God”.  Only our own personal daily Bible reading will safeguard our hearts and prepare us to face today’s battles.

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Photo by Marek Levak on Pexels.com

So when the malware of our old nature shows up in our minds and it must be overwritten by the update of His ways. The constant spiritual pressures will no more disappear from our Christian lives than spam from our e-mail accounts. But every day we can choose to patiently to download His updates before we continue on our walk with Him!