Tuesday, September 14, 2010

One flower, one bouquet, one body.

Since as long as I can remember...I have always loved flowers. When I was little, my best friend had a field behind her house, that was filled with tiny little yellow daisies in the spring time. I loved to go over to her house to play. On a pretty day, we would run out into the back field and run through the flowers. We would eventually fall into a huge bouquet, giggling until we lost our breath. Life seemed so simple back then. All we worried about was having enough play-time together before the sun went down, and we would have to part ways and go home. Laughter, flowers, playing and strawberry lip gloss...those were the days.
Life isn't that simple anymore...but one thing hasn't changed, I still LOVE flowers. I love how they look, how they smell, and how their petals feel as I rub them between my two fingers.
I walked into work the other day to see these flowers sitting on the table in front of the window. I fell in love with them as soon as I saw them. The sunlight was bouncing off of each petal as if to say, "Goodmorning." My face lit up and I smiled from ear to ear. One of the reasons why I love flowers is because of their uniqueness. No two flowers are exactly alike. Each one different with it's intricate details, blooming into priceless perfection. As you can see in the picture, none of the flowers are the exact same. They may look similar, but they are different. They might smell similar, but each gives off it's own scent. Each flower, if it were standing alone, would be just as beautiful. But, when put together, to make a bouquet, you are able to witness their magnificence as a group. Each flower having it's own part in forming it's greatness. The same...yet different...coming together to form a magnificent bouquet.
As I looked at the bouquet and each flower within it, I admired each one individually, appreciating their differences, and soaking up their beauty as a whole. I wondered, what if we all looked at one another like that. All with our own intricate details, but just as beautiful as the person next to us...
Life seems to remind us of our differences, but not allowing us to appreciate what our differences mean. Our differences are brought out with a large yellow highlighter, in every area of our life. They are looked down upon. The way we dress, the way we talk, the places we live, the size house we have, the food we eat, the music we listen to, the color of our skin, the church we attend, and even the way we worship. Our world is filled with "stereotypes" that just seem to belittle the person standing next to us...or even us at times.
Just like God created every flower to be different and appreciated, so He also created us. We are the canvas and HE is the artist. All of our beautiful differences, colors, likes and dislikes, coming together to create a magnificent portrait. A magnificent bouquet! Each beautiful, but becoming one to create something bigger and better than before.
Flowers, no matter what the origin, all thrive on the same kind of nourishment. All needing water and sunlight, to fully grow into it's potential and bring forth it's individual beauty. So goes the same for us. We all need God, to grow into our full potential and bring forth our individual beauty. ALL of us! But, we are too focused on tearing one another down, cutting off our stems, and covering up each other's light, causing us to wither and die. All because we may look different, sound different, and might worship in a different church then the person next to us. The truth is...we all need the same thing to live a life of magnificence...Jesus Christ.
It's our differences that make us a beautiful bouquet, yet we allow them to keep us separate, keeping us from forming, and seeing our true beauty. We all have our own purpose and our own task to complete. Yet, all striving for the same goal...to build the kingdom of God through a grace filled relationship with His Son Jesus. We all began with the same breath breathed into our life. We all need His Son to have a redeemed life and a heavenly eternity. One day, we will all stand before the same God, at the same seat of judgement, wanting to hear the same answer. Why should we allow our differences to prevent us to help one another get to that point one day? God created our differences to keep us unified as one body, not separate and cut off from one another. One flower in one bouquet of greatness. One nation under God!
I Corinthians 12-20, 'The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts, and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is also with Christ. For we are all baptized by one Spirit into one body-whether Jews of Greeks, slave of free-and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts of the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is there are many parts to one body.'
II Corinthians 5:10, "For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad."
I Corinthians 12:7, "A spiritual gift is given to each of us as a means of helping the entire church."

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