I enjoy flowers of all description — except plastic. To me there is something rather
obscene about transforming soft, fragrant petals into flinty plastic, but I thoroughly delight in the
real item.
Of course cut fresh flowers are wonderful, but what I really prefer are plants that can
bloom outside in the spring and can still blossom inside when the icy winds turn the prairie
flowers into pale golden drifts and everything seems dead. The flowers safely wait indoors with
me with their cheeks pressed against the windows watching for signs of spring’s return when we
all can go outside into the sunshine again.
In my quest for flowers, I often “force” spring-blooming bulbs.
I wait until the very end of the planting season when the bulbs are marked down and buy
the leftover crocus, tulips, paperwhites, or smaller daffodils bulbs for cheap. I place them in a
paper bag in the produce compartment of the refrigerator for about 45 days, more or less. In mid-
January, when I am trapped indoors by ice, snow, and sub-zero temperatures, and the world
outside looks like a black and white TV with bad static, I plant the bulbs into my collection of
interesting pots.
Then comes the fun!
In the warmth of the house, the bulbs come up very quickly. Everyday, they get taller,
and then one exciting day, there is a blush of color on the buds. Then blooms! Color! Sweet
fragrance! (All except paperwhites — they’re pretty but they smell like cat urine so I set them in
a well-ventilated spot!)
In a cold, dead world of winter, my home becomes amazingly spring-like while I await
the real thing.
God’s miraculous love for you is very much like these vest pocket indoor garden patches.
The world is caught in a deep freeze of sin’s winter. It is so cold and cruel that it will murder
your soul — guaranteed. Dormant with in your soul is a sweet-smelling life sparked there by the
hand of God when you were yet in your mother’s womb. The Spirit of God will awaken it — or
the deep eternal chill will kill it.
Just as He gave up His human wants and wishes to be obedient to death on the cross, you
surrender your will to Christ. Like a bulb planted in the ground, when you surrender your life to
Christ, you are buried with Him. You die to yourself so you can live for God.
Then the miracle takes place! God’s Holy Spirit stirs up your soul, awakening it so that it
can grow to new heights. That germ of life planted in you long ago by the hand of God responds
to the warmth of His love and your soul changes from an unsightly bulb to a fragrant flower —
transformed by His love!
But this is just the beginning. As you respond to God’s love, you will become more like
Him. As the metamorphosis continues, the love of God wafting from your soul will enable you to
love others as Christ did — selflessly, gently, purely, eternally.
Make no mistake: There are many “Christians” who are no more concerned with loving
God with all their heart, soul, and mind than a dyed-in-the-wool heathen. Nor are they interested
in loving their neighbors as themselves. It is all about them and what they want. These are the
plastic flowers in the garden of life, perhaps remarkably like the real article in appearance, but
without the essence of life that makes flowers beautiful. Take care that you are not one of those.
You will also encounter Christian believers who are only marginally interested in loving
either God or their fellow man. In one way or another, we all fall into this category because sin
constantly batters and blights our souls.
But it is incumbent upon us to be watchful and submissive to the work of the Master
Gardener in our lives. For unlike a tulip bulb that calmly and willingly accepts whatever I do to
it, we have a disconcerting habit of resisting God. Should a flower bulb argue vehemently with
me about where I propose to plant it or dig itself back out of the soil, I would simply discard it.
Fortunately, God in His gracious mercy has far more patience with those of us who are His. That
patience is because of His great love.
In a cold, dark world starved for love, our conversion from bulb to bloom is a sign of
God’s power and love. It is an attraction to the lost, an invitation to inhale and be healed, and a
brilliant witness of the transforming love of God.
Like a flower, the world will know you are one of His because of the sweet fragrance of
love that emanates from your life.
Chapter 1 — Love — God’s Style
Love: Identifying the True Vine and Fruit
He had so much on his mind that night that he couldn’t sleep. As he paced on the balcony
outside his luxurious house in the cool twilight, he gazed up at the stars and the moon as he
prayed for help and wisdom. He had a close relationship with God and it was thrilling to talk to
Him where he could see the temporary temple environs as well as the glory of the sky.
With his prayer still upon his lips, a torchlight procession caught his eye. He saw a young
maiden and her servants in the temple’s Court of the Women moving toward the ritual baths.
David knew that devout women took a monthly bath to declare themselves ritually clean before
they took part in any temple function. No doubt this young woman was about to do the same.
When she entered the little bathhouse tent that was constructed without a roof, he had a perfect
view of what was about to take place.