I am not generally a flower person, so when I can’t get an image off my mind, and it’s a flower, I take notice. This picture doesn’t do justice to the vibrant colors that are portrayed in my mind, but it was the closest I could come to the type and colors of flower that I saw. As I meditated on the image, I thought about how it closely mirrors my walk with God, and even the church itself.
Like the stem of a flower is rooted in the soil around it; I am rooted and grounded in God, that is the start of everything. As a church body, we are rooted in God and planted in the community that He has called us to minister to.
As we apply His blood to our life, we take on new life. It is by His love we are transformed. As we accept His love for us, and learn to love others through Him, the darkness changes. It can be a gradual change, as we hold on tighter than we should to old habits but we are changed. As members of the church body, as we expose our lives to those we are in community with, sharing our vulnerabilities, our hang-ups, our hurts, and struggles the power of darkness in those areas are weakened by the love of God that is shared with us through others.
Orange flowers symbolize life and yellow friendship. It is when we are transformed by the love of Christ that life begins to exude out of us. It is a life that attracts others to us for relationship. As the body of Christ, we can not survive alone. It is when we connect with others, and begin to share our lives, that the body of Christ comes to life in our communities. Until then, we are just people who meet together for a common purpose, more of a club than a community. God calls us to fellowship with others, the New Testament church is called to do life together as a community. We are called to relationship with God, with other believers, and to the dying world around us.
As this cycle is completed, the center of the flower contains the seeds or pollen that when ready will produce more of its’ kind. As Christian’s the Word of God that we place in our heart will, when ready be able to produce in the lives of others. It goes beyond our individual growth, to help others around us grow as well. As a church body, the collective seeds can further multiply the Kingdom in our community as we go out and spread what God has done in our lives with those He has put us in relationship with and called us to minister. We then have a responsibility to help others grow and multiply also.
There is not just one single petal on the flower, that creates beauty. The flower’s beauty comes from the colors within and the collective colors throughout. So it is with us, individually we have the beautiful colors of Christ at work in our life, but together with other believers, we have a beauty that is beyond our ability to capture in a photo.
If one petal falls away it impacts the complete beauty of the flower. As much as we think our contribution may not matter, or that no one will notice if we aren’t there, this is a lie. We are all members of the same body and all must operate to their best for the Body of Christ to function at its best. If one part is missing or not at its best, it impacts the whole body. This is another reason we are called to community, so we can help support one another and encourage one another in difficult times.
Jesus used stories, the prophets used pictures and analogies. I think God still speaks through pictures, to give us a clearer view of His work in our lives. Through a flower, He can reveal how rooted in Him, His love in us produces life and growth that can spread like wildflowers in a field through our community.
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