Thursday, April 23, 2015

Blooming Where You Are Planted

"But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away."
Luke 8:13 (NKJV)

Recently I was out running and I saw something very strange.  The path I run on is close to the street and between the path and the street there are some places where shrubs have been planted.  The shrubs are not the nicest thing that could be planted in that space but for the location I suppose it is a good choice.  But, as I was running past one of these places where the shrubs are planted I saw a yellow tulip!  My first thought was that this was a nice change from the shrubs but then I thought about how this tulip is in the wrong place; this is not a place for tulips but for shrubs.

There is a saying that people use about blooming where you are planted.  This is a nice saying but it is not always completely true.  You may have a wonderful flower but if it is planted in the wrong place it will not bloom or even survive.  Palm trees are nice but you don't see many, if any of them, being planted in Germany.  Palm trees do well in a certain type of environment and not so well in others.  The same thing that is true with plants is true with people.  While I agree that in every situation and season of life we can grow, develop, and prosper it is important to be planted in the right place.

In the parable of the sower Jesus talked about the Word being sown as seed and how it produced results based on where it was planted and the conditions involved.  Some of the seed sown did not produce real, lasting results because the seed fell on rock and there was no possibility to take root there.  To really bloom where we are planted we must be sure we are planted in the right place.  If we plant our life into the wrong things we can hear the Word and hear the Word but we will not bloom like we should.  Be sure your life is planted in the Word of God and follow God's direction in life to be sure you are planted with the right people and situations as you should be, that is how you can bloom where you are planted.

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