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Scripture for the day: Psalm 27:1, 7-8 The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? …. Hear my voice when I call, Lord; be merciful to me and answer me. My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, Lord, I will seek.
Thought for the day: I hope this picture of a sunflower has come through in your email. When I send such things, I never know what may have happened to them once I’ve hit the hyper-space button. This picture is included because it’s important to embed that vision in our minds this morning. I want to talk about the sunflower.
My neighbor planted a few sunflowers in her garden this year; I’m not sure why. No one ever does anything with them. Oh, there are those who plant huge fields of sunflowers just so they can dry the seeds and sell them to healthy eaters or give them to the birds, but, as far as I can tell, there’s no other reason to plant this huge daisy-like vegetation. There is, though, something interesting about the Sunflower. Do you know why a Sunflower is called a Sunflower? Well, I’m going to tell you. It’s because the head of the flower always faces the sun. Always. When the sun comes up in the morning, the sunflower will turn to face the east. As the sun moves across the sky, the flower will slowly turn until it is facing directly at the sun. If you should pass a field of sunflowers, you may be assured they will all be facing the same direction.
Now, what on earth does this bit of useless knowledge have to do with anything important this morning? I’m glad you asked because, as I read about sunflowers, I was reminded of a hymn we sometimes sing in church.
Turn your eyes upon Jesus;
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of his glory and grace.1
Sunflowers always look toward the sun because they need the energy that comes from the sun to grow. If they look away, they wither and die. The same is true for each of us spiritually. If we’re going to thrive and grow, we must keep our eyes upon Jesus; we must consistently seek His face. Dusting the old Bible off every Christmas and Easter won’t give us what we need to grow and become strong. An occasional prayer thrown in the general direction of heaven won’t strengthen the relationship we need to maintain with Him. A nod to the Commandments won’t provide the structure we need to make the progress we crave in our spiritual lives. We must keep our gaze directed at the Son if we are to thrive and remain healthy.
Now go take on your world. - Bill