The beloved physician Luke wrote how Jesus said, “Take no thought for your life, what you shall eat; neither for the body, what you shall put on. The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment. Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them: how much more are you better than the fowls? And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit?”, and in chapter twelve and verse twenty-seven of his book Luke shared how Jesus said, “consider the lilies how they grow” where we read:
Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not;
and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
The verse reads, “Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not;” Luke began with the words, “consider the lilies” or “observe, understand and fix one's eyes upon the flowers known as lilies” “how they grow” which means “in what way the lilies augment, increase and become greater”: “they toil not” or “the lilies do not grow weary, tired or labor with exhausting and wearisome effort”, “they spin not” which means “the lilies do not twirl and twist as with a spinning wheel”. Luke shared how Jesus told the people listening to Him to “observe” the “lilies” in the fields and notice how they “increase in size and number”, yet they do not “labor to exhaustion” or “spin” themselves with effort.
The verse continues, “and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.” Luke added the words, “and yet I say unto you” or “and moreover I, Jesus, utter, declare and proclaim to the people listening to Him”, “that Solomon” which refers to “the son of David and was the wisest and richest king that ever lived whose name means peaceful” “in all his glory” or “with every part of Solomon's honor, praise, splendor and brightness” “was not arrayed” which means “was in no way clothed and displayed” “like one of these” or “even as a single one of the lilies of the field”. Luke shared how Jesus told the crowd that even King Solomon, who was the wisest and richest King who ever lived, was “clothed and displayed” like the “lilies”.
When we meditate upon Luke's words in this verse, we see how Jesus took note of the “lilies of the field” which were kept by God's mighty hand. Flowers are cared for and displayed by God, and when people observe them, they should be encouraged that He will take care of them too. People are God's greatest creation, and His desire is for them to be “saved” from their “sins” which separate them from a personal relationship with Him. He sent His Son Jesus to die upon the cross for the sins of the world, and all who believe in Him shall be saved. God cares for flowers, and He cares for people, and those who are wise will acknowledge and receive His wonderful provision that will outshine all the other beautiful things in His Creation.
Next time Luke shares how Jesus asks, “if then God so clothe the grass … how much more will he clothe you?”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book
“Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the
marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the
Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms
Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County"
in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com
; http://www.barnesandnobles.com
; download to e-books, and find it locally at
www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
All references are from "Strongs Concordance".
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