Consider the Lilies

 

Jesus said “Consider the Lilies…” and I wrote an article on this subject recently but feel it needs “follow- up”: in my dictionary “consider” means to contemplate; deliberate

thoughtfully, so I have been “considering” this lily in that way and am most impressed with the delicate colouring, the material the petals are made of and how those little dark pads in the centre are hinged so the slightest touch by an insect will cause them to swivel and deposit pollen on the creature that touched them, and that is certainly marvellous.

But Jesus was looking past those pads when in Matthew 6: 28 He said “Consider the lilies of the field how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: and yet I say unto you. That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore if God so clothed the grass of the field which, today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you. O ye of little faith?” ………… but seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness: and all these things shall be added unto you”. So he was reassuring us that we can trust God. I suggest therefore, that we read that whole passage again and also “consider” who it was that made that statement! And what the implications are for you and me personally, if you take him seriously.

 Mind you, it probably wasn’t only lilies that he was thinking of when he described them as “grass of the field”. It is more than likely that he used lilies as the illustration

because they were very common in that part of the world. When we look at the thousands of different and remarkable designs of flowers we cannot but be impressed by the mind of our God who could conceive such beauty and variety. It is no wonder therefore that Jesus was keen to point out that the God who would take such an interest in things that would only last a few days, would certainly be much more willing to spend time helping humans who are his greatest creation and whose lives are eternal. No doubt God had great joy in designing the plants and animals and He put us in charge of them all, giving us remarkable bodies and brains to use. However, at that point he handed the responsibility over to us by giving us a free will and not making us “robots.” Most loving parents would understand that thinking, because they look after their babies and feed and clothe them, educate them, and endeavour to direct them in the way that they think is in the child’s best interest, however, that is about as far as they can go and from then on they just make themselves available for advice and assistance and try to not interfere with the child’s own free will as they get older so that they can live life the way they choose. This can be wonderful or devastating.

Wonderful for the parents if the child chooses well, but devastating if they choose poorly like the young man in the photo. There is nothing his parents can do for him

now unless he decides that he wants to “quit” drugs. If he makes that decision, then his parents and others can help him find the answers, and all of life’s possibilities become within his reach once again. Some people may say “That isn’t my problem thank goodness”, but they’re wrong: according to the bible that is how God sees the soul of every one of us until we repent and accept Jesus redemptive forgiveness which releases our soul from the consequences of sin. “How is that?” you may ask. Well the bible says: “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God”, “there is none righteous, no not one” “the soul that sinneth it shall die” “the wages of sin is death.”  So you can imagine how devastating it is for our loving God when he sees us ignore his directions that were designed to guide us and set us up for Eternal Life.

The decision to “quit” sin is in our hands; as “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on him shall not perish but inherit Everlasting Life.” “The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord”. Now this is where our “Free Will” takes over; we may look in the mirror and see a business person, a teacher, a nurse, a pensioner or whatever and be quite contented with our life, but unless we have “freed” our Soul from that situation “depicted” in the photo above by accepting God’s offer of forgiveness, then there is absolutely no hope for us in Eternity so we must make sure we have sought that forgiveness (it is free), and thus avail ourselves of all the blessings in this life and the one to come.      Best wishes, Tom.                                                                                                                                                       

Great Designs

 

This is a photo of the footpath near my daughter’s house. Most of the streets are bordered by these Cape weed plants at present and it looks very beautiful.

In this close-up photo you can see how wonderfully designed they all are: beautifully shaped petals with a rich yellow fading out to a cream tip. When the sun goes down they all close up until morning and I guess that is to protect the pollen from dew and frost, but as soon as the sun is up so are they.

In the garden there are lots of different flowers and these Dutch Iris fascinate me. The material they are made of is so delicate that you would wonder how it can stand the hot sun and yet they thrive on it. When we look at the incredible selection and distribution of the colours here too, we cannot help but marvel at the way God “programed” these plants with the ability to find those pigments and know

how to separate them and distribute them to the petals so cleverly. An insect attracted to this flower lands on the yellow area and makes its way up towards that top “lip.” This “landing pad” is hinged and the weight of the insect lowers it enough for the insect to push under the top “lip” which sits gently on the insects back as it proceeds into the flower, thus the insect is wiped with pollen which it takes to the next flower exactly as God planned. Of course it is all beyond our understanding how God arranged all this and that is why Jesus said “Consider the lilies of the field how they grow: they toil not neither do they reap, yet (King) Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed as one of these” and He goes on to say that “If God so clothed the

grass of the field” won’t He look after you, so we are not to worry about things we lack, but to trust Him. (If you would like to check that out read Matthew Chapter 6 and verses 30 & 31).

A very long time before Jesus was born in Bethlehem, King David (with Holy Spirit guidance) wrote Psalms 14 & 53 and in the first verse of each said: “The fool says in his heart ‘there is no God” and centuries later Paul, writing to the Christians at Rome said: “ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities- his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God” (Romans 1: 20) (New Living Translation).  That is why I love studying nature because it is there we are surrounded with His incredible handiwork and can learn to appreciate His wonderful mind which helps our faith to grow.

About 2600 years ago the Prophet Jeremiah in the 17^th Chapter of his book and the 7^th Verse said: “But blessed are those who trust in the Lord, and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a river bank with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit.” (New Living Translation).

Now what I have highlighted above is the ideal way to live because we all want to have a life like the trees Jeremiah described above, don’t we?

Well keep looking closely at the flowers and keep reminding yourself of Jesus statement above about the lilies.

God bless you as you do that.  Tom.

God’s Covenant with All Living Flesh

As I write this the Eastern portion of Australia is having the wettest season in 50 years and as I came out the back door of my daughter’s house recently, I was greeted with this spectacular rainbow, and it reminded me of God’s statement in Genesis 9: 9-17, where He was speaking to Noah after the great flood and said that the rainbow would be a reminder to Him and all living flesh, that He would never again allow a flood of that magnitude.

 There is of course still a lot of evidence of that flood; for example, the world has great coal deposits close to the surface which were colossal forests that had been flattened and washed into ravines and covered with silt. The “fossil graveyards,” like the trees, were freshly dead animals buried in large numbers before they deteriorated.  If they hadn’t been buried quickly under a quantity of silt we wouldn’t have those fossils, and it would take a terrific flood to do that. So we are very fortunate to have that historical record. People who don’t read the bible invent weird and impossible alternatives to the flood. From experience: During my life of grazing sheep and cattle I have seen hundreds of animals die, and I know that unless they are buried quickly there will soon be no evidence that they ever existed because blowflies, crows, eagles, foxes and wild pigs soon clean up their remains. Did I hear you ask “how come you saw so many animals die”? Well just to take one example: Audrey and I had a property where our boundary fence was about 200 meters from the Bogan River and ran parallel with it for many kilometres. When the river flooded

in 1990 I received a call on our U.H.F. radio, from the man in charge of travelling stock in our district, to say that a large mob of sheep travelling on the stock route, between our fence and the river, had been trapped by the flood water and washed against our fence, and would I mind if he cut the wires in many places so the sheep might be able to swim into our country and possibly save their lives by finding higher ground. Of course I said “do it”. However, they all drowned and now there is no evidence that they ever existed because the carnivores I mentioned cleaned them up (including the bones, to get the marrow). They drowned in amongst those trees in the distance and with the flood rising this was as close as I could get to them. After that we had years of drought and this beast of ours couldn’t even find enough water for a bath.

Now the river is flooding again and the farmers are battling. Life is not always easy, (as you might have found out), and the Bible tells us that Adam and Eve’s sin started these difficulties and our continuous sinning perpetuates them. However, God spoke to King Solomon, as recorded in 2 Chronicles 7:14 and said: If my people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from Heaven and forgive their sin and heal their land” and in the New Testament James 5:16 says: The prayer of a righteous man availeth much”. The entire bible bears witness to this idea of asking God’s forgiveness for past sin, living in a manner in accordance with the scriptures and asking in faith for God’s help and guidance. Our Nation needs to do that, but the fact that it doesn’t should not stop you or me from doing it if we want to end up in Heaven and live above the average right now.  Best wishes as you consider that. Tom.