APRIL 2024
FROM THE PASTORS DESK
Growing up, I always heard the saying, “April showers bring may flowers.” As we enter the second quarter of 2024 already, let’s take a minute and think about what God said about flowers in His Word. For the most part, God used flowers in one of two ways.
One, God used the beauty of flowers to assure His children that He would take care of us. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said in Matthew 6:28-30: And why do you worry about clothes? Learn how the wildflowers of the field grow: they don’t labor or spin thread. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these! If that’s how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, won’t He do much more for you - you of little faith? The psalmist said that the beauty of nature speaks to the bigness of God. If God takes care of nature, how much more will He take care of His highest creation, humans created in His own image? Jesus concluded in verses 31-33, So don’t worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For the idolaters eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you. Let the beauty of flowers and their divine care encourage you in difficult times of life.
Two, God used the temporal nature of flowers in bloom to highlight the fragile, limited aspect of life in this realm. Our lives are so brief when we compare them to history. Our lives are miniscule in duration when we set them in the context of eternity. The psalmist noted this reality in Psalm 103:15-16: As for man, his day s are like grass - he blooms like a flower of the field; when the wind passes over it, it vanishes, and its place is no longer known. The reality of the passage of time would make me sad and depressed without my Chris-tian faith. I am grateful the psalmist went on to write verses 17-18, But from eternity to eternity the Lord’s faithful love is toward those who fear Him, and His righteousness toward the grandchildren of those who keep His covenant, who remember to observe His precepts. As time passes each day, the wise person recognizes that delaying happiness is a foolish gamble. As time passes each day, the godly person recog-nizes that pursing faithful obedience to God is the only thing that will matter for eternity.
May the beauty of God’s creation cause you to reflect upon the bigness of the blessing of spending eternity in the Creator’s presence. Redeem the time. Do not postpone faithful obedience. And relish the joy of the Lord every single day.
One, God used the beauty of flowers to assure His children that He would take care of us. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said in Matthew 6:28-30: And why do you worry about clothes? Learn how the wildflowers of the field grow: they don’t labor or spin thread. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these! If that’s how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, won’t He do much more for you - you of little faith? The psalmist said that the beauty of nature speaks to the bigness of God. If God takes care of nature, how much more will He take care of His highest creation, humans created in His own image? Jesus concluded in verses 31-33, So don’t worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For the idolaters eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you. Let the beauty of flowers and their divine care encourage you in difficult times of life.
Two, God used the temporal nature of flowers in bloom to highlight the fragile, limited aspect of life in this realm. Our lives are so brief when we compare them to history. Our lives are miniscule in duration when we set them in the context of eternity. The psalmist noted this reality in Psalm 103:15-16: As for man, his day s are like grass - he blooms like a flower of the field; when the wind passes over it, it vanishes, and its place is no longer known. The reality of the passage of time would make me sad and depressed without my Chris-tian faith. I am grateful the psalmist went on to write verses 17-18, But from eternity to eternity the Lord’s faithful love is toward those who fear Him, and His righteousness toward the grandchildren of those who keep His covenant, who remember to observe His precepts. As time passes each day, the wise person recognizes that delaying happiness is a foolish gamble. As time passes each day, the godly person recog-nizes that pursing faithful obedience to God is the only thing that will matter for eternity.
May the beauty of God’s creation cause you to reflect upon the bigness of the blessing of spending eternity in the Creator’s presence. Redeem the time. Do not postpone faithful obedience. And relish the joy of the Lord every single day.
-Pastor Clint Miller
Posted in MONTHLY NEWSLETTER
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