Let's Go Back to the Bible

What Kind of Flower Would You Want to Be?

It’s kind of a weird question, but if you had the opportunity to be any kind of flower in the world, what would you want to be?  There are so many from which to choose!  In fact, scientists have identified approximately 400,000 types of flowering plant species in the world.  Some are extremely rare, like the endangered corpse flower of Indonesia.  It has not roots, no leaves and no stem, but obtains nourishment from the Tetrastigma vine.  It blooms only once every decade or so.  Some flowers are extremely valuable, like the Shenzhen Nongke Orchid, which is supposedly worth $200,000.

What difference does all of that make, and why ask what kind of flower you would like to be?  Because the Bible repeatedly likens us, as human beings, to flowers.  How are we like flowers?

Our life is described in Isaiah 40:  “All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field” (v. 6).  You choose the flower, and all your loveliness (beauty, ESV) is like the flower of the field.

Our life is described in Psalm 103:  “As for man, his days are like grass; as a flower of the field, so he flourishes” (v. 15).  All flowers flourish from essentially the same three needs: light, water and food.   Our lives flourish from the same.

While we might share beauty and flourishing in common with flowers, the real comparison is found in Job 14:  “Man who is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble.  He comes forth like a flower and fades away” (v. 1-2).  “The grass withers” (Isa. 40:7-8), “its flower falls, and its beautiful appearance perishes” (Jas. 1:11).  It does not matter how rare a flower is—it will wither, fade and die!  It does not matter how valuable a flower is—it will wither, fade and die!  Thus, it does not matter who you are—how rare you are, how valuable you are, how beautiful you are—because you will wither, fade and die!  “It is appointed for man to die once” (Heb. 9:27).

So, what hope do we have?  We know that once a flower withers, fades and dies, that’s it!  Is there any hope for us after that?  Fortunately for us, the Lord makes this contrast:  “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands (endures, 1 Pet. 1:25) forever” (Isa. 40:8).  Peter, after quoting this verse, concludes:  “And this word is the good news that was preached to you” (1 Pet. 1:25).  God’s enduring word, which shall never “pass away” (Matt. 24:35), was preached to us in the gospel (i.e., the good news), telling us of the love of Christ and how to prepare for that time when we wither, fade and die.

You are like a flower: beautiful and flourishing.  But you shall also fade and die.  Are you ready for that time?