What Pleases the Lord More … One Flower or Many?
- Pastor Jay Christianson
- 59 minutes ago
- 4 min read
I was out on my (trying-to-make-it-habitual) morning walk. The three thousand morning steps were a-calling, and I jumped to the task with all the vim and vigor of a sloth on caffeine.
Weird picture, I know.
All that to say, it was a conflicted stroll. The sun was up, and so was the humidity here in Florida. The fact is, the day was recharging for the obligatory summer storms tonight. I wanted to pick up the pace a bit, but found it difficult with sweat streaming into my eyes.
About a third of the way around my circuit, I came upon a beautiful flower that I’ve often seen in this area’s landscaping. It’s called a Mexican Petunia. It has a smaller flower than a regular petunia, and it’s purple—a rather pleasing purple. A perfectly pleasing purple petunia. (I’ll stop.)
This particular perfectly pleasing purple petunia plant (okay, now I’ll stop) had only one bloom. I was drawn to its beauty immediately. The first time I had ever seen this landscape lovely was after we moved to this area. One of the houses on my part-time pool cleaning route had a Mexican Petunia that had grown to its full three-foot height and spread, covered with blooms. It was captivating to this plant daddy. (My wife thinks I have a plant addiction, but I can stop whenever I want. I just don’t want to.) And yet, I was surprised by the pleasure this single bloom brought to me in the wash of summer’s dawn.
Suddenly, the Lord’s still, small voice spoke to me. Seriously, it did. The Lord’s voice often comes to me as quick thoughts that infuse my mind. The following is what I “heard.”
“Does this flower please you?” Father asked. I replied via my thoughts, “Yes. A lot. Just as much as if there were a whole bush of them.”
My Father continued (paraphrased), “So it is with Me. Just as you find joy in one flower as much as in many on one plant, so I find as much pleasure in My child who has even a single fruit of the Spirit in their lives. Every bit of the Spirit’s fruit that bursts forth in their lives is pleasing to Me, just as much as in the life of My child who has much. Whether many or few, they all bring me the same pleasure.”
What a gracious little tidbit to hear today.
So many of us Christians feel like we’re not making much progress in our spiritual maturity or Jesus-like character at times. It gets downright discouraging, to be honest. At other times, I do see a little spiritual something in an unexpected action or reaction that tells me things are changing inside for the better. There’s a little more patience, or self-control, or commitment to following Jesus’ example. But is it enough to please our Heavenly Father?
Yes.
We know that in order to become a born-again follower of Jesus, we have to trust our Father’s plan of salvation through Jesus. That faith alone is enough to please our Father. I know this because “without faith it is impossible to please God, since the one who draws near to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (Hebrews 11:6). There you go. Trusting the Father pleases Him and opens the way to keep pleasing Him.
But what I heard today really resonated with me. Jesus pleased His Father because He always lived as His Father had desired His human children to live. Jesus said, “The one who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, because I always do what pleases him” (John 8:29). It logically follows that as we live like Jesus, we too will be pleasing to our Father.
No one can ever bear as much spiritual fruit as Jesus did, because the fullness of His character is the very definition of spiritual fruit, the aspects of His character which appear and grow in our lives as we follow His teachings, commands, and example. Some people are a walking bumper crop of spiritual fruit. Admittedly, some of us are a fruit bowl’s worth. Many of us feel like we have one lonely piece to offer the Lord. It doesn’t matter, though. All spiritual fruit is pleasing to our Heavenly Father.
One piece of spiritual fruit or a whole bowl or an entire “Jesus-full” of spiritual fruit—it all qualifies and pleases our Father in Heaven, just like one flower or a bouquet or a whole bush of Mexican Petunias pleases me.
Never despair, oh, you of little bloomage. Even having one bloom of Jesus’ character in your life puts a smile on your Father’s face as much as His most dedicated child in His family.
That’s what My Father told me this morning about a particular perfectly pleasing purple petunia plant I perused.
I couldn’t resist. Sorry, not sorry.
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Shining the Light of God’s Truth on the Road Ahead
Pastor Jay Christianson
The Truth Barista, Frothy Thoughts