The peonies are doing better in the garden this year then last. There are bigger blooms and they aren't damaged by the earwigs. My son brought me in a pink one and a white one yesterday morning, which were promptly placed in the place of honor in a vase by the kitchen sink, where I admired them all day.
This morning I was saddened by the the wilting of the pink one. There it was, pink petals drooping like icing about to slide off a birthday cake. The once crisp edges were shriveling, the freshness vanished. All the joy had departed from my bouquet, even though the white one still shown bright.
I thought about when the first peony wilted. I'm sure that they were bigger and more lush in the Garden of Eden then they were here. It must have made Eve want to sit down and cry when she saw how sin ruined such a beauty, her sin, wilting life for everyone. Surely she felt so responsible, so guilty, so sorry for straying away from God's plan. One bite of curious disobedience, then a stronger taste of broken trust.
Sin wilts me too. Selfishness, the great big "I" problem, is the center of my problems, just like it is the center of the word "sin". I want something. I think something. I feet something. I forget something. I hurt someone. I think of myself before I think of others. I pull in on myself and start to shrivel. I'm not happy. My smile starts to frown. Sharp words replace loving gestures. Rather then gathering what I desire, my selfishness injures me.
But Jesus had a plan to defeat the sin problem once and for all. In His purity He gave himself. He took my sin, my great big "I" problem, my selfishness, my disloyal disobedience upon himself. It killed him. But here is His promise, "As many as received him, to them He gave power to become the sons of God., even to them that believe on His name." John 1:12. That's power available to me to overcome my sin problem, power from the very throne of God, a gift of Jesus, His perfect life, in exchange for mine. Praise God!
"All who accept Jesus Christ and hold the beginning of their confidence firm unto the end will be heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ to "an inheritance incoruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away." (White, Ellen, Manuscript 153, 1893).
And there will be no more wilting or fading in my life or in God's garden. What a precious inheritance!
This morning I was saddened by the the wilting of the pink one. There it was, pink petals drooping like icing about to slide off a birthday cake. The once crisp edges were shriveling, the freshness vanished. All the joy had departed from my bouquet, even though the white one still shown bright.
I thought about when the first peony wilted. I'm sure that they were bigger and more lush in the Garden of Eden then they were here. It must have made Eve want to sit down and cry when she saw how sin ruined such a beauty, her sin, wilting life for everyone. Surely she felt so responsible, so guilty, so sorry for straying away from God's plan. One bite of curious disobedience, then a stronger taste of broken trust.
Sin wilts me too. Selfishness, the great big "I" problem, is the center of my problems, just like it is the center of the word "sin". I want something. I think something. I feet something. I forget something. I hurt someone. I think of myself before I think of others. I pull in on myself and start to shrivel. I'm not happy. My smile starts to frown. Sharp words replace loving gestures. Rather then gathering what I desire, my selfishness injures me.
But Jesus had a plan to defeat the sin problem once and for all. In His purity He gave himself. He took my sin, my great big "I" problem, my selfishness, my disloyal disobedience upon himself. It killed him. But here is His promise, "As many as received him, to them He gave power to become the sons of God., even to them that believe on His name." John 1:12. That's power available to me to overcome my sin problem, power from the very throne of God, a gift of Jesus, His perfect life, in exchange for mine. Praise God!
"All who accept Jesus Christ and hold the beginning of their confidence firm unto the end will be heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ to "an inheritance incoruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away." (White, Ellen, Manuscript 153, 1893).
And there will be no more wilting or fading in my life or in God's garden. What a precious inheritance!
This is my first visit to your blog, and I have truly enjoyed myself. I love peonies even though they fade so quickly. Thank you for speaking of the sin and misery that the fall has brought upon us. Like you, I am so thankful for the hope we have in Christ Jesus, and that there is coming a day when we will no longer fade nor sin.
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