John 10:10 – I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. (NIV)

In October, I started working in a greenhouse. We planted very small plugs of primulas or primroses into larger pots. There were 120,000 of these plants and, needless to say, we were planting for a couple of weeks! Thereafter, I didn't work again until late January. When I came back, to my pleasure and amazement, the entire greenhouse was filled with glorious blossoms. There before me were flowers: red, purple, blue, violet, orange, pink and various shades of yellow. The place was filled with the heavenly fragrance of the primulas. I discovered that only the yellow and orange blossoms had fragrance.

My new job was to take all the larger plants with three blossoms or more and separate them from the rest, and put them into empty flats. We did this for several days. I realized after a long day of doing this that it became natural to look for only the three blossoms and not to look at the rest of the plant. When I was looking for the beauty of the blossoms, that is all I saw.

In time, I had to look for the small plants, with smaller leaves but just as many blossoms. I then discovered that if I was only looking at the leaves, that was all I saw. I was only focusing on the leaves and, therefore, wasn't paying any attention to the blossoms. It was a struggle to look at the whole plant.

I began to think that our lives as Christians are a bit like that. If we are looking on the bright side — the blossoms — then it is easier to be positive and happy. Everything cries out, "God is good!" If, however, we are focusing on the more negative side of life — the smaller leaves, the not-so-desirable plants — life will look quite grim, and somehow in those times we don't see the blossoms. We can only focus on what we think we see. What we need to do then is to try to focus on the blossoms of life — the sweet fragrance of God — and life will look much brighter.

Let us take a deep breath and breathe in the goodness of God! God is good.

Prayer: Dear Lord, thank you for your goodness. Teach us to look not at the dark side of things, but rather help us to look at the bright side, and to know that you are with us at all times. In Jesus' name. Amen.

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About the author:

Karen Knuff <knuff.karen@gmail.com>
Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Canada
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