Daffodils (Joe Widick)

Good evening! Lord willing, I am now in Vietnam! Tonight's entry is again from my former colleague/boss/elder/friend/brother in Christ, Joe Widick of Lebanon, Tennessee. Joe often fills in for me while I am out of the country! Keep me in your prayers!

Spring time is always a welcome relief from the dreary days of winter.  One of the first signs each year is the coming to life of the daffodils.  As you travel throughout our community you see them almost everywhere you look.  Some are brilliant yellow while others are more of a pale yellow, almost white.  Many of the daffodils we have in our yard came from a lady who attended Bethel church of Christ, where I preached for a number of years.  She invited Elaine to come out and dig as many as she wanted.  I remember how amazed Elaine was when she came home that day telling me about how many daffodils sister Young had on her farm.  It was almost a blanket of yellow.  I have planted those daffodils many times through the years-it’s a wife’s prerogative to want to move things.  With each spring the daffodils come back to life and I am reminded of some that didn’t get moved, for they bloom where they are planted. 

Isn’t God amazing?  Have you ever thought about what the daffodil goes through each year.  Once the blooming season passes, the daffodil will begin to fade the greenery will wilt under the heat of the oncoming summer.  They will eventually be cut back and forgotten about.  The bulb remains in the ground through the remainder of the summer, enduring the heat and dry weather that comes.  When God paints a beautiful scene for us in the fall, the daffodil bulb still remains buried.  With the coming of winter the ground will freeze and thaw and still the bulb remains buried.  As the gentle warm weather of spring comes, that once dormant bulb comes back to life, pushing tender shoots through the ground and eventually the beauty of the flower.  It is life!  It is its time to show its beauty where it has been left throughout the year. 

Do you bloom where you are planted?  I mean do you show others the beauty of Christ where you are in life?  Can people see a joy and happiness you have because of how Christ has loved you?  Christians should be happy and joyous wherever they are! 

Are you preparing yourself daily  to let others know about Christ.  As the bulb sets in the ground, it gets the needed nourishment to show the world it beauty.  Are you and I feasting daily on God’s word, gaining the knowledge and understanding needed to be a light to the world?  Each spring I am reminded of Song of Solomon 2:11-12 “See!  The winter is past; the rains are over and gone.  Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come…” 

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1

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