It’s Amazing What I Found in a Bouquet of Flowers!

It's springtime in my home state of Georgia, and with spring, comes flowers! Spring is my favorite time of year! Hi, I'm Susan Montgomery. I'm very excited about my very first blog post. It's something that I have wanted to do for quite some time. One of my favorite pastimes is working outside in my yard with my flowers, as they can make a house look so inviting and cheery. Most females enjoy receiving a beautiful bouquet of flowers. Personally, my favorite type of bouquet is one that my husband picks from our yard. It's extra special because he takes the time to clip the flowers, arrange them, and surprise me by leaving them on the kitchen table. God certainly displays His majesty in the world of flowers, and He created them for us to enjoy. Florists have a rewarding job by arranging flowers that bring joy to the recipient. It’s amazing what I found in a bouquet of flowers! Flowers have three qualities that draw our attention. These qualities are fragrance, beauty, and tenderness. Seeking to learn some valuable lessons from flowers, we, as Christians, should also have the fragrance, beauty, and tenderness of Christ. Fragrance… without having yet seen any flowers in a room, it is often easy to sense their presence because their fragrance simply fills the air. When a friend dropped by one day, upon entering the door, she immediately said, "It smells so good in here!" The fragrance was from the bouquet of gardenias that I had recently put on the table. In comparison, Christ's life was a "sweet smelling savor" to God, and the Christian's life should imitate the Father (Ephesians 5:2). The presence of a child of God should produce a pleasant, encouraging atmosphere. Beauty... flowers are beautiful, but they do not strive within themselves to be that way. They are simply nourished and pruned by nature and their owner. The "lilies of the field" are an example of this. They don't toil to be beautiful, yet King Solomon "in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these (lilies)" (Matthew 6:28-29). Likewise, a Christian's life is not perfected by his own efforts, but by the continual molding the Holy Spirit. Tenderness... the petals of a flower are tender and soft to touch. So also should a believer's heart be tender. A Christian should be easily touched with the needs of others. Sensitivity to the Holy Spirit is very important. The Apostle Paul admonished believers to be “tenderhearted, forgiving one another" (Ephesians 4:32). Does your Christian life reflect these three characteristics of a flower... fragrance, beauty, and tenderness? Does the fragrance of your presence cause someone to be encouraged? Is Christ's beauty being revealed in you? Do you display tenderness and sensitivity to the Lord and others? May every child of God possess these refreshing qualities of a flower. It's truly amazing what can be found in a bouquet of flowers!