Jeremiah 6:16a NKJV
"Stand in the ways and see,
And ask for the old paths, where the good way is.”
“Lessons From the Flowers
Why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies.…Even Solomon … was
not arrayed like one of these.—Matt. vi. 28, 29
Without any toiling or spinning on their
part, God clothes the flowers in loveliness far surpassing any adornment which
the most skilful human arts can provide. Flowers bloom but a day and fade. We are
better than flowers. If our Father lavishes so much beauty on perishing plants,
is there any danger that he will not provide raiment for his own?
Of course it is not implied that like
lilies we need neither toil nor spin. It is all right for lilies just to stand
still and grow. That is their mission; that is the way God made them to grow.
But he gave us hands, feet, brains, tongue, energy, and will; and if we would be
cared for as are the flowers, we must put forth our energies to produce the
results of comfort. Yet Jesus tells us to consider the lilies, how they grow.
We ought to study the beautiful things in nature and learn lessons from them. Here
is a lesson of contentment we are to learn. Who ever heard a lily complaining
about its circumstances? It accepts the conditions in which it finds itself,
and makes the best of them. It drinks in heaven’s sweet light, air, dew, and
rain, and unfolds its own loveliness in quietness and peace.
The lily grows from within. So ought we
to grow, having within us the divine life, to be developed in our character and
spirit. The lily is an emblem of beauty; our life should unfold likewise in all
lovely ways. It is a picture of perfect peace. Who ever saw wrinkles of anxiety
in a lily’s face? God wants us to grow into peace. Likewise in all lovely ways.
It is a picture of perfect peace. Who ever saw wrinkles of anxiety in a lily’s
face? God wants us to grow into peace. The lily is fragrant; so should our
lives be. The lily sometimes grows in the black bog, but it remains unspotted.
Thus should we live in this world, keeping ourselves unspotted amid its evil.
These are a few of the lessons from the lily.”
-From Come Ye Apart: Daily Readings
in the Life of Christ
by J. R. Miller (1840–1912)
Published by Solid Ground Christian
Books
Vestavia Hills, AL, 2002
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