A Rose By Any Other Name...

Scripture: I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys. Like a lily among thorns is my darling among maidens.
Song of Songs 2:1-2

It is a tradition at our school that after every play, the actors and actresses receive a rose. I pressed the rose from our first play of the year in a large book of mine. I mentioned that book today in one of my classes and I remembered the rose which got me thinking.

It got me thinking about how a Christian is like a rose. There is almost an infinite range of colors that roses come in. This reminded me of how each Christian is different, we are all unique individuals created in the image of our Father. Roses are easily distinguished because they all have certain traits in common. They come in different colors but you can still tell that it is a rose. We all think and see in our own ways, but we share common beliefs, we share our goal to get to Heaven, and we share our love for one another, our Father, and His living Son.

A rose also has thorns for protection. You know that a rose has thorns and so you do not grab one by the stem and yank it out of the ground. As Christians we are protected by God, and Jesus walks with us always, to protect us from harm. As a Christian our thorns may also represent how we will defend our faith. We will never let anyone take our God given right to worship, to pray, or to praise.

The rose blossom is known for its many layers of petals. I believe this relates to the many layers of our relationship with God. We all have a complex relationship with God, each relationship is different and is very deep, and it has many layers. Everyone can see the petals on the outside of a rose, just as they can see the outside of us. But the inner layers of the rose remain hidden within. There are certain things that are between only us and God, our very most inner self. God has the ability to peel back our outer self and see our inner self, the very soul He created.

We are all God's children; we all share the ancestry of the Garden of Eden. We are all roses in the eyes of God and by any other name we would smell as sweet.

Marie Quill
Motlow Student

Prayer: O Great Gardener of my soul, give me fresh living water to drink, and prune my faith so that it flowers and displays your splendor. I want to bring glory to your name as I bloom in the name of Christ. Amen.

Prayer Tip: All of God’s creation speaks of his glory. Studying one small element of His creation can speak to you new truth about His great design for your life.

Valuable Things

Scripture: You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight. Luke 16: 15

If you are a mother, whether you enjoy it or not, you probably spend loads of time in your kitchen. I was thinking this morning about the three most important pieces of equipment in my kitchen aside from the appliances of course and every-day dinnerware. I determined that they were the items I used the most: a pot that I boil water for tea, a mix and pour bowl, and the slim spatula. Stop for a moment and think about what you use the most in your kitchen.

If you were to walk around any kitchen and pick out what you deemed to be the most valuable, you might pick out the most expensive looking items, like a nice mixer or a frilly coffee maker. However in my kitchen you would certainly not pick out the grungy pot where the tea bags steep. It is stained and bent in places. I would not even cook anything else in it because it is dedicated totally to making tea. (Keep in mind I am from the South) My guess is that is the last thing you would pick out to be of value.

The slim spatula is white and is not always perfectly white depending on what I do with it. However, it fits perfectly down inside a can to clean out the contents. It insures the remaining ingredients of any recipe are not left stuck to the last important piece, the mix and pour bowl. I honestly use this bowl every day. I would freak out if I went to try and find it and it was gone.

I was just thinking about how God must have realized that the value of a person or an item is not based on the net value. He took His son, the most valuable thing he had, and disguised him in a barn in a manager. Jesus, the King, did not ever wear jeweled crowns or robes. He always had the appearance of any old Joe. His name in that day was ordinary. You could not have gone into Nazareth and picked out Jesus as a king. He was a very unlikely ruler of any kind.

Inventory in our society puts dollar values on important things. We tend to overlook the valuable things in life until we are met with a reason to take stock of our lives. However when we examine how often we use certain items and realize that we do not want to have to do without them, they suddenly increase in value. Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world and is contrary to what the world deems valuable. Much like I can’t fix anything in my kitchen without my mixing bowl, Jesus may not be valuable to you until you are aware of your sin and realize how you can’t do without Him. How much you are using Jesus will tell you how valuable He is to you.

Leslie Stephens
McMinnville, TN

Prayer: Amazing God, thank you for seeing the value in the small simple things. Teach me how to value Christ above all things. Amen.

Prayer Tip: Take time to journal your time alone with God, so that you can see how valuable it is to your spiritual growth.

There is something in my finger

Scripture: If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. Matthew 18:8

Have you ever had splinter and needed help getting it out? I always have to turn my head because if I don’t, I will flinch when I anticipate the needle stick. Some people are so bad that they will pass out just at the thought of a needle stick. When I give blood I have to turn my head, if I don’t I will retreat out of fear of the stick.

Spiritual sticks are no different. God in his mercy treats us much like a careful physician. He examines the thorn we have in our flesh very carefully. He will shine the light of his Word and Son to help illuminate the area. He will pinch it up between his fingers and really expose the thorn well. But then just when he sticks the needle up to dig that thing out, we flinch and retreat! We know that once it is gone it will feel so much better, but we know that the process of giving over to the great physician will probably induce some pain.

Have you ever had something in your finger that you can’t even hardly see and it will fester and get sore? You know something is there but it takes a few days for you to confirm that yes there is indeed a little thorn in there. When you get it removed it may be smaller than the head of a pencil and I have wondered how in the world something so small can cause so much irritation.

O, I am thankful that God will make us uncomfortable in our sin. The Holy Spirit will bring conviction to us. It may only be a little tinge of pain, but you know it. That familiar feeling of, I have something wrong. At first it may not seem big enough to dig out, but after ad few days of that thing in there, you know it. Yes, I must let Him dig it out! Do not give in to your urge to retreat this week. Stick that flesh out there and ask Him to dig that splinter out!

Leslie Stephens
Winchester, TN

Prayer: Great Physician, do a work on my flesh. Expose the splinter of sin that I may not even be able to see yet and dig it out! Amen!

Prayer Tip: if something makes your spirit squirm, best ask God to show you why.