So often Father we are set on controlling our own course. And the thing is, many times we are unable to even hear what You would have us do because we are screaming so loudly about what we want. Enable us to shut our mouths and listen – truly listen – for a change. Amen.

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I took the above picture in the spring of 2019 for a blog post entitled Beauty in the Rough (<<click to read it). This was my opening paragraph.

Shortly after my elementary route began this morning, I crossed a small bridge on a county road. Under the bridge was a small stream and all around this particular area was hilly, wooded terrain. There were absolutely no signs that anyone had ever lived in this spot or would ever choose to. But…as I crossed the bridge, and from the height advantage of my bus, I spotted a small cluster of blooming daffodils in all their splendor! There they sat gloriously amongst the decaying leaves, fallen branches…beauty in the rough!

This spring I have unsuccessfully searched for them. I don’t know where they went! Where they were looks just like the area surrounding them from before…decaying leaves and fallen branches.

The Scriptures are surely not silent concerning the flowers of the field.

The grass withers, the flower fades,
When the breath of the Lord blows upon it;
Most certainly [all] the people are [like] grass. Isaiah 40:7 AMP

The Apostle Peter used Isaiah’s passage in his first epistle.

“People are like grass;
their beauty is like a flower in the field.
The grass withers and the flower fades.
But the word of the Lord remains forever.”

And that word is the Good News that was preached to you. 1 Peter 1:24-25 NLT

An unknown psalmist understood this truth as well.

My days are like an evening shadow that lengthens and vanishes [with the sun];
And as for me, I wither away like grass. Psalm 102:11 AMP

Not a single one of us has any idea how long we will be here on this dusty globe. Some of us, much to the heartbrokenness of anticipating parents, never see the light of day. Others of us have our lives snuffed out far too early in any number of tragedies. And there are even some of us, like my parents, who, despite the burden that comes with age, continue to wake up each morning and ask, “So what are we going to do today?” But they too will someday give their last kiss, share their final embrace, breathe their last breath.

And at the end of it all, when our last day is counted, what will we have to show for the time allotted us by our Creator?

More than we may like to acknowledge, we are like the daffodils. We have no idea what tomorrow holds – will we be here or not? – but we can choose what to do with today. We can make it count. And most importantly, we can make it count for the Kingdom.

We know not the day, but the Apostle Paul shines a beacon on the result of our choices.

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked [He will not allow Himself to be ridiculed, nor treated with contempt nor allow His precepts to be scornfully set aside]; for whatever a man sows, this and this only is what he will reap. Galatians 6:7 AMP

We can choose to love. We can choose to give, not just of our material resources but our lives. We can invest what we have been given to impact those around us in ways that would please our Father.

When we stand before our Judge on that final day – for eternity will not be marked by time! – how will our actions be accounted for?

Matthew 25:31-46 records Jesus as saying,

“But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. All the nation will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left.

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’

“Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’

“And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’

“Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons. For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’

“Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’

“And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’

“And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.” NLT

Apr 13th, 2021, Tues, 7:33 pm