Lessons from the Lotus

I must admit that it has been such a long time since I posted anything, I had trouble finding m own blog! But, we are re-connected and I will offer some thoughts for you to read, ponder, or even disregard!!!

One of my favorite flowers is the lotus. The buds open to display a most beautiful, fragrant flower.
What fascinates me about the lotus is that such a beautiful flower can grow in really nasty water. It does not have to have a pump and be circulated and "tended to" like a backyard water feature. The roots are very long and deep and are almost embedded in the bottom of the water in which it is growing. One place I read quoted a Confucion scholar as saying "I love the lotus because while growing from mud, it is unstained". You see, the flower itself is about ¾ to one inch from the top of the water. The stem pushes just a little extra off the junky water and then the blossom grows and opens.

I find a couple of very encouraging spiritual applications from the lotus flower.
Let’s just begin with the fragrance. 2 Cor. 2:15 says "For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing;" In the world of yucky smells, Christians are the fragrance of Jesus. One translation says "a sweet aroma"! I’ll be honest, I’m very allergic to perfumes and being around what one person may call a "sweet aroma" will give me a throbbing headache and a sore throat!! But, I’m not sure Paul is talking about that kind of literal smell. The connotation there to me is more like walking by a lilac bush or mimosa trees and just catching a wisp of fragrance. Maybe even the air after a rain. Maybe just something that immediately gives a "hey, this is different and is very refreshing". You and I are a fragrance of Christ in a smelly world!!!

The other application I find is simply in where this beautiful flower lives. It thrives in mud. One place I read actually stated "nasty water". Have you ever looked around at all the sin and bad things that go on around us and thought "this world is one nasty place!" In John 17 Jesus prays to His Father on behalf of his disciples. I might add that I find this one awesome prayer!! John 17:15 says, "I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one." Even then, Jesus knew his disciples were surrounded by sin and nasty stuff. But his prayer was for God to protect them from Satan. If we are a Christian, we are one of those disciples. Jesus does not expect us to live in our own little Utopia protected from everything around us. He expects us to live in this world. Why is that like the lotus flower? Because that beautiful blossom pushes itself just a tad above the nasty water to open and allow the beauty and fragrance to been seen.
We don’t have to stand head and shoulders above everyone else, bellow loudly, or force our "smell" on everyone else.
Jesus does expect us to be that sweet fragrance and push ourselves just a tad above the world. You know what? I think we can do that. I love the application from the lotus flower. We may be in this world but we can rise just tad above it!!