In His World
Let all creation sing! Yesterday, we discovered the beauty of being born to bloom and the similarities of our lives and the lily. Today, take your devotional time outside. Look around and soak in the beauty surrounding you. Wouldn’t it be inspiring to take on a project to plant your own lilies as a part of going through this devotional?
First, find the perfect spot that offers the right place and the right space to plant your own lilies. When you locate where you would like your flowers to grow, sit next to the area you have chosen and go through the next two sections of today’s devotional.
Allow this project to be a spiritual marker in your own walk with Christ as you take part in His creation and inspire your own growth to bloom in new ways. Imagine the many years you can come back to this spot again and again to remember what the Lord spoke to you in this season and throughout your many seasons of blooming for His glory. Just like your lilies.
In His Worship
As you sit in the midst of God’s creation at the site of your lily-planting project, praise Him for His creation. Worship Him for the blessing of life, beauty, and strength. Thank Him for His gift of allowing you to bloom where you’ve been planted.
Pray and talk with the Lord about the connection between your life and the lilies you are about to plant. Ask Him to reveal truths to you as you watch your lilies go through the rooting season, forming colonies below to prepare for the spring bloom. Is there a certain lily that you relate to? One that is bold in color and intoxicating in fragrance or a classic white with the alluring smells of spring? Choose one that visually represents you. As you finish praying, read the passage provided below.
In His Word
The desert and dry land will become happy; the desert will be glad and will produce flowers. Like a flower, it will have many blooms. It will show its happiness, as if it were shouting with joy. It will be beautiful like the forest of Lebanon, as beautiful as the hill of Carmel and the Plain of Sharon. Everyone will see the glory of the Lord and the splendor of our God. Make the weak hands strong and the weak knees steady. Say to people who are frightened, “Be strong. Don’t be afraid. Look, your God will come, and he will punish your enemies. He will make them pay for the wrongs they did, but he will save you.” Then the blind people will see again, and the deaf will hear. Crippled people will jump like deer, and those who can’t talk now will shout with joy. Water will flow in the desert, and streams will flow in the dry land. The burning desert will have pools of water, and the dry ground will have springs. Where wild dogs once lived, grass and water plants will grow. A road will be there; this highway will be called “The Road to Being Holy.” Evil people will not be allowed to walk on that road; only good people will walk on it. No fools will go on it. No lions will be there, nor will dangerous animals be on that road. They will not be found there. That road will be for the people God saves; the people the Lord has freed will return there. They will enter Jerusalem with joy, and their happiness will last forever. Their gladness and joy will fill them completely, and sorrow and sadness will go far away.
Isaiah 35 NCV
The link — https://www.almanac.com/plant/lilies — will give you great information about our theme flower, help you buy the right bulbs to plant when you go to a nursery, and guide you through a step-by-step process of growing your lilies.