Consider MY Lilies

Just outside the window of my study, where I now sit typing this, is a flower bed with four lilies, not yet blossomed, green against the dark mulch. I’ve watched these four in a soldierly line push up through the ice-glazed mulch, endure late frosts and freezes, and grow under mostly gray skies and blanketing fog. They all emerged from the ground at the same time, but now they stand like four children, siblings of varying ages, lined up according to height to have their photo taken. The one furthest west is the tallest; the second, shorter than the first; the third, shorter than the second; and the last shortest of all. Each successive lily is proportionately shorter than the prior one. If you are wondering why, the answer is obvious. Close to the last is a tree. The lilies resurrected from the cold ground before the tree had yet budded and leaved. Thus, the sun equally shone where each lily grew. But, soon the leaves on the tree appeared, blocking the rays of the already infrequent Ohio spring sun. The tree is so situated in the trajectory of the path of the after-spring-equinox sun, that in gradation each successive lily in the line up receives significantly incrementally less sunlight. No light no growth. Little light, little growth. Much light, much growth. Thus, the mystery of the succession of the shorter and skinnier lily to the taller and fatter lily is solved. It’s all about the time of exposure to the sunlight each received. A once frequent concern, theme of song, and topic of lesson and sermon in the Church was “growth.” Not self esteem. Not having your dream come true. Not health and wealth. Not emotive experience. Growth. Of course, that is the theme that runs through the NT epistles. We get saved; we grow. We are born-again, but not perfect; we grow. We are rooted in love; we grow to produce fruit. We have hang-ups, hang-overs, hang-ons from our old life; we grow. We are immature, selfish, petulant; we grow. On and on. The message is that we grow. We grow because we feed on the Word. We grow because we are planted in truth. We grow because of the atmosphere and climate of the community of the saints. We grow because we are in the Light. Indisputably, growth is the will of God for our lives, the possibility which He has provided, and should be the heart’s desire of every believer. Growth. And, growth is simple. Like the lilies it has to do with exposure. Exposure to the Word. Exposure to Biblical teaching, preaching. Exposure to the presence of God. Exposure to the fellowship of God’s people. Certainly, one can be exposed to these things at home—in his everyday not-at-church existence. To a degree. Just like a potted lily could get some sun inside a house. But, the lily outside is much more conveniently positioned to be watered and to receive sunshine. And there, the one situated to receive the most sun has the most growth. If we were to line up Christians according to exposure to the Word, presence of God, fellowship of the saints—all other factors being equal—the ones with the most receptive, consistent exposure would be the ones with the most growth. That kind of comparison with others is not fair. So, just consider your own life in different amounts of exposure. No church attendance. Sporadic church attendance. Frequent church attendance. Much church attendance. Envisioning that, you would see yourself like my four lilies. I know that there are so many other factors to consider. So many qualifications, variables, etc. But, in the end, it’s the exposure to the sunlight that brings growth. Much light, much growth. Some light, some growth. Little light, little growth. If you took a look at my lilies, you’d know what I meant. Hhhhmmmm. Heard that somewhere before? “Consider the lilies…” Consider my lilies.

Consider MY Lilies

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