This time of year my eyes start wandering to a little patch of dirt in our back yard. The previous owners of our home planted flowers everywhere, and I could hardly contain my delight our first spring watching colorful tulips pop up right by our back door. So far my black thumb hasn’t killed them, but I can’t say that about the rest of the plants.
Tulips have long been my favorite flowers. There’s just something about the way they grow straight up to the sky with their gorgeous blossoms held up by a slender, delicate stem. It looks like the petals are heavy enough to make the stem just flop over, but as long as they’re planted in the ground they stay upright. Defying gravity as they stand tall.
I love the vibrant colors and the smooth petals, yet my favorite thing about them is how they grow. Planted tulips grow straight toward the sun, while cut tulip blooms will always curve and twist and bend toward the light. The sun is what is keeping them up. They are also one of the few flowers that continue growing once cut. When put in a vase, they will continue to grow, leaning toward the direction of the nearest window. If they aren’t in sunlight they droop.
These little flowers know where their strength comes from.
Tulips remind me to keep my face toward the Light. Tulips remind me to never stop stretching for that Light.
“Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”
John 8:12
I want to live in such a way that my life is marked by bends and twists and turns in the direction of Jesus. I want it to be evident that my face is turned toward Jesus and not buried in the things of this world.
When the Light is drawing us to Him, we can defy gravity like the tulip blossoms. We can push past the dirt and muck and distractions. We can stand radiant and vibrant, blossoming in the light of our Creator.
