What a Difference 4 Days Make

"How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it's here a little while, then it's gone."
~ James 4:14

Last Tuesday I went to a friend's house. As I walked toward her front door to ring the doorbell I whisked by a flower that was growing in her yard. Yes, in my haste to get to my next stop, I just zoomed right on by the flower.

I rang the doorbell and as I waited for my friend to answer, I was prompted to go back to the flower and take a picture. It was sooo pretty. How could I pass that up? So I snapped the picture and then we were on our merry way. I didn't think much of the picture after that. Looked at it a few times. Still thought it was pretty, but wasn't quite sure what I was supposed to do with it.

Until...

Yesterday.

Yesterday I was at her house again, and as I went by the spot where the flower was, I noticed that it had drastically changed. It was almost gone.

The flower that had just 4 days before captivated my attention with its splendor, had now dried up and resembled nothing of what it was before.

Even in its new "not-so-pretty" state though, I was again compelled to take its picture.

And that's what you see at the top of the page. Last Tuesday's picture, and yesterday's pic.

As do most things, this little flower got me to thinking. Thinking about life and how many things go unnoticed and unappreciated. Similar to the number of times that flower had probably been passed by and gone unnoticed, there are many PEOPLE who experience the same. Everybody desires to be noticed. Regardless of how beautiful they are (or are not) on the outside, that doesn't negate the beauty that they possess within.

Every life is meaningful. Every life has a purpose. Every life is worthy of being noticed.

Psalm 150:6 states, "Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD!"

This is what we are ALL commanded to do. Notice, it doesn't say Let every BELIEVER...or Let every CHRISTIAN...no...it says let Everything that has breath (that's YOU, that's ME, that's ALL OF US!!!) praise the LORD.

That flower had breath. It was a living thing. It grew, and it died. While it was alive, it gave God glory by simply doing what it was called to do. That flower didn't try to be a bird. It didn't try to be a fish. It didn't try to be human. It did just what it was purposed to do. It was a flower.

Even though that flower is dead now, there are at least 2 lessons that I've learned from it. Maybe you see more.

1.DO WHAT YOU WERE PURPOSED TO DO. Plain and simple. That's what the flower did.

2. Appreciate your friends, family and others WHILE THEY ARE ALIVE. You see, when I saw that flower in all its splendor on Tuesday, I had no idea that it would be dead on Saturday. The thought never even crossed my mind. Let's not let this happen to the people in our lives. Let them know NOW how much they mean to you.

With that said...

Let the DIALOGUE begin! What other lessons do you think can be learned from the flower?

Talk to me!

Til next time...