The Bread of Life: Flourishing in Faith
Flowers are one of my wife's favorite things. Each spring, she enjoys getting her hands dirty, planting and piddling with different kinds of flowers. I must admit that I love watching her do what she enjoys, as well as the beauty that the flowers bring to the outside of our small home, both in appearance and fragrance. However, shortly after her flowers grow and blossom, summer passes, and fall approaches. The hanging baskets are taken down, and the once-beautiful flowers fade away.
Several elements are needed for flowers to thrive: good soil, water, and, of course, sunshine. Without at least these three elements, flowers have little chance of survival.
In simple terms, we as people are much like flowers. We need food and water—both physically and spiritually—to maintain life and eventually grow into the servants that God desires.
Jesus Christ said in John 6:35, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty." The "bread of life" mentioned here is a metaphor for spiritual sustenance. While mankind must work to provide physical bread for the temporary needs of the body, Christians must also partake of the spiritual bread of Christ regularly in order to grow and function correctly.
A Christian who partakes of the Bread of Life and the Living Water of Jesus Christ will not only grow but can truly blossom into a beautiful servant of God. It is amazing to watch a small newborn baby grow into an active child and eventually into a productive adult. But it is even more remarkable to see a person accept Christ personally and develop into an effective servant of God.
Our physical bodies will fade away; our beautiful, long, flowing hair will gently turn gray or white and may even fall out entirely. Our physical level of activity will change. However, as we grow and blossom into mature servants of God, we become wiser, more experienced, and more assured of Jesus' presence in our lives. Yet, as mature Christians, we must be careful not to sit back and think we have arrived, leaving it to the next generation to take over. That kind of thinking is negative and detrimental to the Kingdom work of God.
When we are in a fight, we do not simply push a pause button and quit; we fight to the finish. As servants of God, we need to blossom and continue serving, just as the beautiful servants of God did throughout the Bible. Caleb was 85 when he said, "Give me this mountain" in Joshua 14:12. James Earl Jones was not a biblical character, but he worked until 2021, when he was 90 years old.
Blossom as long as you can!