Daily Devotion
Son Flowers
By Sue Bohnert
Guest Writer
The day before Byron went to be with the Lord, his sister walked in his room with a bouquet of sunflowers behind her back. She yelled, “Surprise!”
He lit up and the whole countenance on his face changed. Byron said, “Oh Lauren, those are beautiful. They look like garden flowers.”
Several times throughout the evening, he would just stare at the flowers. With a sweet look on his face, he would say, “Lauren, thank you so much. I needed those.”
Sunflowers have taken on a whole new meaning for me. Not only are they a symbol of happiness, they’re a reminder of the last few days of being with my son. So, I decided to look up what sunflowers meant:
"Sunflower has recently been adopted as a symbol of happiness, strength, a love of the sun and sunlight and...it is said to always turn its face to the sun it is considered by some to be a symbol of faith." (WikiAnswers.com, 2009)
"Sunflowers are unique for its constant pursuit of sunlight. So sunflowers have the meaning of loyalty, that is to keep unchanged. Sunflowers’ faces head towards the sun and the flowers themselves looks like the warm and shiny sun! … Sunflowers give people a sense of optimistic and looking forward for the brightness of tomorrow." (Wedding Flowers Blog on Blogspot.com, 2008)
Knowing that the sunflower loves the sun really blesses me. I especially like where it says, "the sunflower looks forward for the brightness of tomorrow." It reminds me of how you and I should be towards the Father’s son, Jesus. We see in the Message Bible in Matthew 17:2, “Sunlight poured from His face.” Just like the sunflower, shouldn’t we also be turning our face towards the Son?
My daughter and I decided to plant a small bed of sunflowers in honor of Byron. It’s really true - these delights will actually follow the sun from morning to night. What really excited me the most was one morning at the break of dawn, I went out to check on the flowers. There they were, after a long night, ready to meet the brightness of a new day.
My pastor has pointed out many times in Genesis that God says a day is the evening then morning. We think of it as morning then evening. The next scriptures confirm this:
“Weeping may endure for a night but joy comes in the morning.”Psalms 30:5, Amplified
“At night we may cry, but when morning comes we will celebrate.” Psalms 30:5, Message
The same is true in Romans 13:12 (Message),
“The night is about over, dawn is about to break. Be up and awake to what God is doing!”
We can praise God knowing that after the dark we will always see the light. No matter how dark or long your night has been, always remember the day is coming. I can attest to this truth. Yesterday was one of the darkest days of my life, but I kept looking to the Son. Last night, I went to bed assured that tomorrow would bring a new day!
“Clean the slate, God, so we can start the day fresh!” Read Psalms 19 in the Message Bible.
Byron truly is my son flower. By being in constant pursuit of God’s son, Jesus, and loyal to the end, he stepped into the brightness of a new day.
“I'll never even smell the stench of death. You've got my feet on the life-path, with your face shining sun-joy all around.” See Acts 2:27-28 (Message).
“So we're not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There's far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can't see now will last forever.” 2 Cor. 4:16-18, Message
Go on! Look to the Son. Your night will end! Whether in Heaven or on Earth, day is coming!!!
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